The Royal Palace of Madrid
(Spanish: Palacio Real de Madrid) is the official residence of the Spanish royal family at the city of Madrid, although now only used for state ceremonies. The palace has 135,000 square metres (1,450,000 sq ft) of floor space and contains 3,418 rooms. It is the largest functioning royal palace and the largest by floor area in Europe. (References from Wikipedia)
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. 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
Unfortunately, photos were not allowed of the Stradivarius string quintet, but it was indeed an awesome sight.
The palace was initially built between 860 and 880, however, the only drawing of the castle from the Middle Ages is one from 1534 by Cornelius Vermeyen.
A different perspective of the ceiling in previous image.
Temporary Guards
Beautiful, quaint, and enjoyable site for lunch after a long walk.
Damasquinados Suarez (Handcrafters, a family tradition)
Here we saw the making of swords, pendants with gold thread (very impressive), mosaics figures, fine jewelry with the gold threads and the experts making the pieces. It was worth the visit to see a family tradition of expert craftsmanship.
This circular piece in the center was hand crafted under a magnifying glass using tweezers and fine gold thread woven to create the intricate designs. And the price reflects that.....just a mere $15,000.
Another example of their expert craftsmanship.
The Prado Museum, officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It is widely considered to have one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th century, based on the former Spanish Royal Collection, and the single best collection of Spanish art. El Prado is one of the most visited sites in the world, and it is considered one of the greatest art museums in the world. The numerous works by Francisco Goya, the single most extensively represented artist, as well as by Hieronymus Bosch, El Greco, Peter Paul Rubens, Titian, and Diego Velázquez, are some of the highlights of the collection.
The collection currently comprises around 8,200 drawings, 7,600 paintings, 4,800 prints, and 1,000 sculptures, in addition to many other works of art and historic documents. It is one of the largest museums in Spain.
It was an interesting experience to see the many works of art. Understandably, photos were not allowed.
