from Opera station to the Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain in 4k

On a Saturday in late October we took the Metro to the Opera station, had breakfast, and then went on a guided tour of the Royal Palace. October 25, 2025.

The Royal Palace of Madrid (Spanish: Palacio Real de Madrid) is the official residence of the Spanish royal family and is used primarily for state ceremonies. With over 135,000 m2 (1,450,000 sq ft) and 3,418 rooms, it's the largest royal palace in Europe and one of the largest in the world.

In the 19th century, Ferdinand VII began the most thorough renovation of the palace. The aim of this redesign was to turn the old-fashioned Italian-style building into a modern French-style palace. However, his grandson Alfonso XII proposed to turn the palace into a Victorian-style residence. Alfonso's plans were designed by the architect José Segundo de Lema and consisted of remodeling several rooms, replacing marble floors with parquet, and adding period furniture.

The interior of the palace is notable for its wealth of art and the use of many types of fine materials in the construction and the decoration of its rooms. It includes paintings by artists such as Caravaggio, Juan de Flandes, Francisco de Goya, and Diego Velázquez, and frescoes by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Corrado Giaquinto, and Anton Raphael Mengs. Many of the paintings at some time hung in the palace as part of the Spanish royal collection are exhibited elsewhere, especially in the Prado Museum and the Royal Collections Gallery, both in Madrid. Other collections of great historical and artistic importance preserved in the building include the Royal Armoury of Madrid, porcelain, watches, furniture, silverware, and the world's only complete Stradivarius string quintet.