Gardens of the Temple of Debod

In 1968, Manuel Herrero Palacios designed these 8-hectare gardens, located in the Princesa area, to house and showcase the Temple of Debod, a gift to Spain from the Egyptian government. The gardens and temple were inaugurated in 1972, situated next to the area known as Parque de la Montaña, which is itself part of Parque del Oeste.

From here, one can admire the famous Manzanares River ridge, with the Royal Palace, the Casa de Campo park, and arguably the most beautiful sunsets in Madrid. The garden's flowerbeds, which extend along both sides, serve only as a frame for the plants. They are enclosed by plazas, rows of plane trees, and groups of dwarf palms and Mediterranean plants on the lawns.

The funerary temple, over 2,000 years old, was rescued from the waters of the Aswan Dam by a team of Spanish archaeologists, brought stone by stone, and reconstructed in its current location after the Egyptian government gifted it to Spain. It was installed with the same orientation it had in its original site. The temple and gardens are located on the site of the former Cuartel de la Montaña (Mountain Barracks), a military building constructed between 1860 and 1863 on what is known as Príncipe Pío Hill, the place where Napoleon's French troops previously executed the rebels of the uprising of May 2, 1808, a scene depicted in Goya's famous painting The Third of May 1808 (also known as The Executions). It was also the scene, a century later, of the military uprising of July 1936, which would lead to the Spanish Civil War. During the conflict, the barracks were practically destroyed and were later demolished.