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Royal Palace of Madrid: free audio guide

The story of Royal Palace of Madrid in Madrid, as the Votura app tells it on location. Read it here, or hear it on the spot with turn-by-turn walking directions.

Royal Palace of Madrid

Before you go

Address
C. Bailén, s/n (Pl. de Oriente), 28013 Madrid Comunidad de Madrid
Opening hours
Mon–Sat: 10:00 AM–6:00 PM; Sun: 10:00 AM–4:00 PM

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The story

Royal Palace of Madrid (Palacio Real de Madrid) dominates the western edge of central Madrid as the official state palace of the Spanish monarchy, even though the royal family does not live here. The present building rises on the site of the old Alcázar of Madrid, which burned on Christmas Eve in 1734, and King Philip V orders a grand new palace to replace it. Construction begins in 1738 under the Italian architect Filippo Juvarra, then continues after his death under Giovanni Battista Sacchetti, with Francesco Sabatini later adding major work in the 1760s and 1770s. The palace is completed in 1755, making it one of Europe’s great Bourbon royal projects, and its monumental stone façade still announces the power that the Spanish crown wanted to project after the fire.

Inside, the palace is immense: it has more than 3,400 rooms and covers roughly 135,000 square metres, making it the largest royal palace in Western Europe by floor area. Its grandest ceremonial spaces include the Throne Room, the Hall of Columns, the Gasparini Room, and the porcelain-clad room known as the Porcelain Room. The Throne Room is especially famous for the lion-themed velvet and the fresco ceiling painted by Giambattista Tiepolo in 1764, while the Royal Armoury preserves one of the most important collections of weapons and armour in Europe, with pieces linked to Spanish monarchs from the 13th century onward. The palace also houses the Royal Pharmacy, the Royal Library, and a remarkable collection of paintings, tapestries, clocks, furniture, and decorative arts that turns the building into both a palace and an art museum.

The exterior is pure Madrid drama: pale stone, regular classical lines, and a vast, symmetrical plan built around a central courtyard. Sabatini’s work helps define the palace’s later appearance, including the impressive north-eastern wing and the monumental stairway that visitors climb today. The palace stands beside the Almudena Cathedral and faces the gardens of Plaza de Oriente, a setting that emphasizes its role above the old Habsburg city. Its state rooms are used for official ceremonies, diplomatic receptions, and royal events, including the formal ceremonies surrounding Spanish monarchy functions after 1975, when King Juan Carlos I restores the crown after the Franco era. Even without being a residence, it remains the ceremonial heart of the Spanish state.

The building also carries the memory of political change. During the reign of Charles III, often called the best “mayor” of Madrid, the palace becomes a key symbol of enlightened royal authority, and his successor Charles IV continues its use as an emblem of the Bourbon court. Visitors today encounter a palace that survived wars, regime changes, and the dramatic shift from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy, yet still displays the same ambition that began after 1734. Music lovers also know it for the concert hall traditions tied to royal celebrations, while history lovers come for the Farnese Collection, the frescoes, and the scale of the architecture itself. Few palaces in Europe combine such exact political history, such enormous dimensions, and such a rich surviving artistic interior in one place.

Written for the Votura audio tour and read aloud in the app. Opening hours change, so check with the venue before you go.

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