Royal Palace of Madrid - History of The Building

History of The Building

The direct antecedent of the Royal Palace is the Royal Alcazar, a fortress built on the same site where the baroque building stands today. Its structure was the subject of several reforms (especially the facade), because King Henry III of Castile made it one of the most popular residences, and thus, the site gets the adjective "real", or "royal" in English. His son John II built the Capilla Real and several dependencies. However, during the War of the Castilian Succession (1476) the troops of Joanna la Beltraneja were besieged in the Alcázar, causing severe damage to the royal building.

Under the Habsburg Spain, enthroned in 1516, the Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor undertook a major restoration of the Alcazar, to Renaissance features unambiguous in order to transform the outdated medieval residence into a palace suitable for his court. Philip II continued the work and showed special emphasis on the decoration of the building, which hired craftsmen from Italy, France and the Netherlands. However, the most important contributions of this monarch were the Golden Tower and the Royal Armory, demolished in 1894. The Habsburgs (Philip III, Philip IV and Charles II) continued the project of Philip II, particularly related to the trace of the building and the facades.

Philip V of Bourbon came to the throne of Spain in 1700. The alcázar of the Habsburgs, austere in comparison to the French palace where the new king had grown again, went through several reforms led by Teodoro Ardemans and René Carlier. On the other hand, the main rooms have been redecorated to the French taste by the Queen Maria Luisa of Savoy and the Princess of Ursins.

We do not know many details of the inner side of the enclosure; but we do have documentation about its plant and exterior, like a drawing made in 1534 by Cornelius Vermeyen. It was a rectangular building, medieval appearance and is structured around various dependencies like the Capilla Real de los Trastámara, the Patio del Rey to the west and the Patio de la Reina to the east. Its patios (courtyards) were open to the public for many years and these were allowed the installation of markets. It also highlights the picture gallery of the alcázar, with works by Tintoretto, Veronese, Ribera, Bosch, Sánchez Coello, Van Dyck, El Greco, Annibale Carracci, Leonardo da Vinci, Guido Reni, Raphael, Jacopo Bassano and Correggio, many which were lost in the disaster of 1734.