El Retiro Park

Parque del Retiro is Madrid's green lung east of the Puerta de Alcala, 143 hectares of grounds open to the public since 1868. The park was laid out from 1630 as the Buen Retiro royal retreat for Philip IV by the Italian Cosimo Lotti under the Count-Duke of Olivares. At its centre sits an artificial lake fronting the monumental colonnade-monument to Alfonso XII (Jose Grases Riera, 1922), where rowing boats can be hired. The architectural highlight is the Palacio de Cristal of 1887 (Ricardo Velazquez Bosco), a cast-iron-and-glass pavilion modelled on London's Crystal Palace and now used by the Reina Sofia museum for temporary shows. Since 2021 the Retiro and the Paseo del Prado form a UNESCO World Heritage site. On Sundays drum circles gather at the Alfonso monument; tarot readers set up under the planes.