Royal Palace of Madrid
— — the longest hallway in Europe, kept for the state.
Not only on a wall.
“The official residence of the Spanish crown, though the royal family lives quietly outside the city. The largest functioning royal palace in Europe by floor area: about 135,000 square metres and 3,418 rooms. Built between 1735 and 1764 on the site of the old Alcázar, which burned on Christmas Eve. The throne room ceiling is by Tiepolo. The Plaza de Oriente lies below the eastern facade.
Royal Palace of Madrid, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
The Palacio Real de Madrid stands on a bluff above the Manzanares River, on the western edge of central Madrid, where the Moorish fortress and later the Habsburg Alcázar once stood. The Alcázar burned on Christmas Eve 1734. Construction of the new palace began the following year under Filippo Juvarra and was completed in 1764 by his successor Giovanni Battista Sachetti. It is the largest functioning royal palace in Europe by floor area: roughly 135,000 square metres across 3,418 rooms.
The palace is built of grey Colmenar limestone and white Sepúlveda granite, chosen partly so the building would not burn again. The principal facades face the Plaza de la Armería to the south, with the Catedral de la Almudena across the square, and the Plaza de Oriente to the east. The interior holds work by Tiepolo, Mengs, and Caravaggio, the Royal Armoury, and a Stradivarius quartet of decorated instruments, one of only two complete sets in the world.
The palace is open to the public most days, except when state ceremonies are held. General admission is roughly €14, and entry is free for EU citizens during the last two hours on weekday afternoons. The route through the State Rooms covers the Grand Staircase, the Hall of Columns, the Throne Room with its Tiepolo ceiling, the porcelain Gasparini Room, and the Royal Chapel. The Royal Armoury and the Royal Pharmacy are visited separately. Allow at least two hours.