Campo del Moro Gardens

This historic garden, created by Philip II, is one of Madrid's most special hidden gems. Located on a green axis, covering more than 20 hectares next to Madrid Río, it was declared a Historic-Artistic Monument in 1931. Its name refers to a historical episode that occurred in 1109, when the Muslim leader Ali Ben Yusuf attempted to reconquer Madrid after the death of King Alfonso VI, attacking the Alcázar from the hillside near the river. It appears that he and his troops camped on the site now occupied by the gardens.

In the 16th century, King Philip II purchased the land adjacent to the Alcázar, transforming it into the Court's leisure area in Madrid.

After the fire at the Alcázar of Madrid in 1734, this land lost prominence to other areas near the Palace. During the reign of Isabella II, the construction of the Gardens was undertaken by Narciso Pascual y Colomer (1844), from which the layout of the main straight avenues remains, as well as the two fountains that line the central axis: the Fountain of the Shells, a work by Felipe de Castro and Manuel Álvarez (1775), originally from the Palace of the Infante Don Luis in Boadilla del Monte, and the Fountain of the Tritons, an Italian work from the 16th century originally from the Isleta Garden in Aranjuez, and placed in front of the Great Grotto or greenhouse. During the Regency of Maria Christina of Habsburg, the park was completely renovated according to the pseudo-landscape design of Ramón Oliva (1890). The grounds of the Campo del Moro were not landscaped earlier due to the impossibility of connecting them with the Royal Palace, situated at a much higher elevation. This elevated position was used to create one of Madrid's finest vistas: the Royal Palace behind a vast green tapestry punctuated by monumental fountains within a spacious and shady romantic garden.