Royal Palace of Madrid

The size

It has 3,418 rooms and is the largest palace in Western Europe

The Royal Palace has over 135,000 square metres of floor space and 3,418 rooms. It is the official residence of the Spanish royal family and is used primarily for state ceremonies.

3,418rooms in the Royal Palace of Madrid

The fire

On Christmas Eve 1734 the old Alcázar burned for four days

On Christmas Eve 1734 a fire that began in the rooms of the painter Jean Ranc destroyed the old alcázar. Response was delayed because the warning bells were confused with the call to mass. Las Meninas was rescued by tossing it out of a window, but a Velázquez, the Expulsion of the Moors, was lost.

A new palace

A larger palace was built from scratch between 1738 and 1755

A new, larger palace was built on the same site for the Bourbon dynasty. Construction took place between 1738 and 1755, to a design by Filippo Juvarra and Giovanni Battista Marchetti. Charles III first occupied the palace in 1764.

The stables

An unfinished wing left its foundations buried under the stables

In 1760 Charles III asked Francesco Sabatini to enlarge the building. A large north wing was started but soon interrupted, leaving its foundations buried under a platform on which the royal stables were later built. The stables were demolished in the 20th century and replaced by the Sabatini Gardens.

The quintet

It holds the only complete Stradivarius string quintet in the world

The palace holds paintings by Caravaggio, Goya and Velázquez, and frescoes by Tiepolo. Its other collections include the Royal Armoury, porcelain, watches, furniture and silverware, and the world's only complete Stradivarius string quintet.