Buen Retiro Park

  Located in the heart of Madrid, its origins date from the reign of Philip IV, when the Buen Retiro Palace was built by the Count-Duke of Olivares. The Astronomical Observatory and the Buen Retiro Royal Porcelain Factory were added during the reign of Charles III. During the reign of Ferdinand VII, the pier on the pond and the Casa de Fieras zoo was built. Among the most prominent spots, the park includes the great pond with the monument to Alfonso XII, the Casa de Velázquez and the Crystal Palace, the Rosaleda rose garden and the Parterre, boasting one of the oldest trees in Madrid, a Taxodium mucronatum. In 1935, it was declared a Garden of Historic-Artistic value.