REAL JARDÍN BOTÁNICO DE MADRID

Description

Essentials about the Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid in brief

The Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid (Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid) is a small green oasis in the center of the Spanish capital. It is located directly on the art mile Paseo del Prado and borders the Museo del Prado in the south and the Museo Reina Sofía in the north. So if you need a little rest in the green after a visit to the world-famous art museums, don’t miss a walk in Madrid’s botanical gardens. The enchanting, eight-hectare garden offers an incredible variety of plants originating from all five continents of the world.

The history of the Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid

As early as the 16th century, King Philip II had a botanical garden created next to the Royal Palace of Aranjuez. In 1755, King Ferdinand VI had a first botanical garden designed on the banks of the Manzaneres River in Madrid. It already counted more than 2,000 plants, which the botanist and physician José Quer had collected on numerous journeys through Europe or acquired through exchanges with other botanical gardens.

The continuous growth of the garden led Charles III to order in 1774 that it be moved to its current location on Paseo del Prado, next to Retiro Park. The layout of the new Botanical Garden was entrusted to the scientist Casimiro Gómez Ortega and the architect Francesco Sabatini, who between 1774 and 1781 implemented a three-tiered arrangement of the 10-hectare garden. The entrances were Puerta Real, built by Sabatini in the classical style with Doric columns and pediments, and the entrance built by Villanueva opposite the Museo del Prado.

The garden also included greenhouses, seedbeds and farm buildings. In the eastern part, a greenhouse, the Pabellón Villanueva, was built. However, the building of the royal architect satisfied more aesthetic than practical demands, so at the beginning of the 19th century, the library, the herbarium and lecture halls were housed there.

The Royal Botanical Garden received extensive material collected by the scientific expeditions sent out by the Crown. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the garden participated in at least five expeditions, including to New Granada (now Colombia), the Viceroyalty of Peru, New Spain (now Mexico and the United States), and a circumnavigation of the world. From these expeditions, the botanical garden received drawings, seeds, fruits, wood samples, living plants and, above all, herbarium sheets, which massively increased the herbarium and the library.

By the beginning of the 19th century, the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid had become one of the most important institutions of its kind in Europe. However, years of decline began with the Napoleonic Wars. In addition, at the end of the 19th century, two hectares of land were carved off from the garden to construct the building that now houses the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture. In the 1980s, a large-scale restoration and redesign of the botanical garden took place, with the aim of restoring it as much as possible to its original state. Finally, in 2005, another small terrace was added to the botanical garden.

The landscape of the Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid

The part of the garden open to the public is divided into three terraces that take advantage of the differences in elevation of the terrain.

Terraza de los Cuadros

The lowest is also the widest of the three terraces. There are the collections of ornamental, medicinal and aromatic plants, vegetables, fruit trees and old roses. The square beds are bordered with box hedges, in the middle of each of them there is a small fountain. At the end of the main path through this terrace is the rock garden.

Terrata de las Escuelas Botánicas

The second terrace is a little smaller than the first. Here an attempt is made to present the plants according to their position in the taxonomic system. The plants are arranged by families, which are grouped around twelve wells.

Terraza del Plano de la Flor

The top terrace is slightly smaller than the two lower ones and is characterized by a romantic style. It consists of 25 figures or beds with curved shapes. The Terraza del Plano de la Flor is divided by hedges and four rondels. In the center there is a pond and a bust of Carl von Linné. The Pabellón Villanueva, built in 1781 as a greenhouse, is now used for exhibitions. The terrace is bordered by a wrought-iron vine arbor dating from 1786, with vines of different grape varieties climbing up it.

On the northern edge of this terrace stands the Invernadero Graells, a 19th century greenhouse. It houses tropical plants, aquatic plants and mosses. Right next to it is a larger modern exhibition greenhouse with a tropical, a temperate and a desert area.

Terraza alta oder Terraza de los Laureles

When the botanical garden was expanded in 2005, the “Upper Terrace” or “Laurel Terrace” was created. It is much smaller than the other terraces and is located behind the Pabellón Villanueva. Its purpose is to provide space for special collections. Thus, the bonsai collection donated by former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe González can be found here.