June 20th - Royal Palace

Today we went to the Royal Palace here in Madrid. The current palace is built on the site of an old Moorish fortress, and was constructed by Philip V from 1738 to 1755. It is the largest palace in Western Europe and has many interesting collections such as the Royal Amory, and other priceless art works. I apologize for the lack of photos, and their poor quality, but you see, photography was severely restricted in the Palace...as in...forbidden. However thanks to my faithful wingmen Alex and Andrew who flanked me, and an ultra small digital camera sans flash, I manage to bring you the following shots for your viewing pleasure!

First exhibit is the Royal Pharmacy. This room was HUGE (the photo doesn't do it justice) and contains all sorts of potions and herbs perscribed for the Royal residents. It also has portraits of all the Royal doctors, along with the years they served.


Here are some jars and vases used to store various medicine compounds. There were 6 of these big glass cabinets full of them, all with Latin names.


Here we have a room inside the Palace. I'm pretty sure this was where Charles V would get dressed but I don't quite remember. :/


This is the "Blue Silk Room". The walls are all covered in blue silk tapestries woven at the Royal Silkworks.


And this is the Porcelain Room. All the decorations on the wall are made of porcelain, fabricated at the Royal Porcelain Factory in Retiro.


Another Blue Silk Room.


And this is a Stradivarius cello. The Royal Palace has the only complete collection of a Stradivarius quintet.


Outside the Palace are statues of Queen Isabel....


...And King Ferdinand.


This is the private Royal Chapel, with the thrones visible in the center, where the monarchs assist at Mass