Retiro Park

Retiro Park, the main park of Madrid, Spain. Originally called the Parque del Buen Retiro, or “Pleasant Retreat Park,” it now covers approximately 350 acres (142 hectares). It was planned in the 1550s and redesigned on the instructions of Gaspar de Guzmán, conde-duque de Olivares (chief minister to King Philip IV), who added a palace and a theatre (where comedies of Lope de Vega, the most prolific of Spanish playwrights, were produced). Both buildings burned in 1734. King Ferdinand VI ordered the palace rebuilt, but it was razed during the Peninsular War; a remnant now serves as the War Museum (Museo de Ejército).

The park contains zoological gardens, the Crystal Palace (Palacio de Cristal; a glass building used for art exhibits), a lake, numerous statues of royalty, and the Rosaleda (“Rose Garden”).