Rooms of porcelain and a private church – Madrid, Spain

The royal palace of Madrid is a huge palace in the center of the city and one of the city’s top tourist attractions. It’s officially the residence of the royal family, but they only use it for ceremonies and live in another palace in the outskirts of Madrid. Because of that, us tourists can visit the inside of this beautiful building!

The royal palace lies right next to the Almudena cathedral, so we went there right after seeing this beautiful church. We entered the Plaza de la Armería, bought our tickets and went straight to the royal armoury on the left side of the square. Here, you can see beautifully made weapons, shields and armour.

After seeing the armoury, we entered the palace through the main entrance and ended up at the grand staircase, where there’s a beautiful ceiling painting. From here, the route through the chambers of the royal palace starts.

Each chamber has its own decoration style. The most beautifully decorated chamber according to me was the Gasparini room, named after its creator, the artist Matteo Gasparini. The walls and floor are covered with beautiful marble and the ceiling is decorated with motifs from nature and little figurines. The room was used by the king as his dressing room.

The porcelain room has some beautiful decorations as well. The room is tiny compared to all of the other rooms, but every part of the walls and the ceiling is covered in porcelain! Another beautiful room inside the palace is the throne room. The walls are covered in velvet and the ceiling fresco was made by Tiepolo. I really liked the bronze lions that look like they are guarding the throne. The palace also has its very own chapel on the inside, complete with a beautiful dome and the body of a saint. The whole court went to church here and the king and queen had their own special seats.

Unfortunately, I don’t have many pictures of the interior, because photography wasn’t allowed in a lot of the rooms. That’s all the more reason why you should visit the royal palace and see all the other beautiful rooms for yourself though! A full-priced ticket costs 10 euros, but there are reduced prices for students and there are a few days a year when you can enter for free. The palace is open most days of the year, but to be sure, you can check the opening hours (and the reduced prices and free days) here.

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