Palacio de Cristal, Courtesy of Madrid.com

Crystal Palace or Palacio de Cristal in Spanish, is a glass pavilion inspired by The Crystal Palace in London and designed in 1887 by Ricardo Velázquez Bosco.

Modeled on London’s Crystal Palace of the 1850s, Madrid’s greatest wrought-iron and glass-domed Industrial Revolution structure was launched just 30 years later to stage an exhibition of Philippine tropical plants. It stands in the heart of the Retiro Park, reflecting charismatically in a small lake inhabited by ducks, grey lag geese, and black swans, and forms one of Madrid’s most enduring bucolic images.

The Crystal Palace, which was built in 5 months, is considered one of the best examples of architecture in iron and glass in Spain. This singular building is 54 metres long, 28 metres wide and 22.6 metres high at its highest part, and stands on a brickwork base decorated with a fine ceramic frieze.

Palacio de Cristal Courtesy of Madrid.com

Today exhibitions of modern art are regularly held inside the Crystal Palace, entrance is free!

Visit also our photo tour of the Parque del Retiro where the Crystal Palace is located.

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