FT Globetrotter - El Retiro
There are several parks in Madrid, but the Retiro — which translates as “the retreat” — is its best known and most central. As politicians fight over whether to expand green spaces in the capital to help manage the effects of ever more extreme heat (or backtrack by cutting down trees), this historic park is at least partly protected, having been granted Unesco world heritage status two years ago.
The Retiro’s foundations lie in the gardens of a monastery, which served as a royal retreat for King Felipe II in the 1500s. When he moved the Spanish court from Toledo to Madrid in 1561 these were expanded, and a few decades later, in 1630, King Felipe IV commissioned the creation of the Parque del Buen Retiro (to give it its full name). This new development included a second royal palace and several other buildings, all surrounded by gardens.
Designed as a recreational paradise for the royal court, who were kept entertained with concerts, plays, aquatic displays and re-enactments of naval battles on the lake. For the next two centuries the park — which at first lay just outside the city walls, until the the bustling metropolis of Madrid grew out around it — was kept primarily for royal use, only fully opening up to the public in 1868.
Text by Amy Bell, read the full story here
Photographed for FT Globetrotter in Madrid, Spain
