The Best Parks & Gardens of Madrid

Botanical Garden

Entrance to the Botanical Garden The Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid is an 8-hectare botanical garden located at Murillo Square, in front of the Prado Museum.

The garden was founded on 1755, by King Ferdinand VI, and installed in the Orchard of Migas Calientes, near what today is called Puerta de Hierro, on the banks of the Manzanares River. It contained more than 2,000 plants.

In 1774 King Charles III ordered the garden moved to its current location, with design by architects Francesco Sabatini and Juan Villanueva that organized the garden into three tiered terraces, arranging plants according to the method of Linnaeus. Its mission was not only to exhibit plants, but also to teach botany, promote expeditions for the discovery of new plant species and classify them.

In 1942 was declared Artistic Garden.

Today's the garden is divided into three major outdoor sections (terraces) and two greenhouses. Total collections include about 30,000 plants and flowers, and 1,500 trees. It also contains a substantial herbarium.

The garden's three terraces (Terraza in Spanish) are:

Terraza de los Cuadros: Collections of ornamental plants, medicinal, aromatic, endemic and orchard gathered around a small fountain.

Terraza de las Escuelas Botánicas: A taxonomic collection of plants, ordered phylogenetically and set within plots about 12 small fountains.

Terraza del Plano de la Flor: A diverse collection of trees and shrubs, as designed in the mid-nineteenth century in the romantic style.

The garden's two greenhouses are divided into four rooms. The Graëlls greenhouse dates from the nineteenth century and exhibits tropical plants and bryophytes. The newer structure supports three climates: tropical, temperate, and desert.

Also noteworthy:

The Herbarium: This is the largest herbarium in Spain. It contains about one million of herbal sheets, some of the eighteenth century.

Library and Archives: The library of the Royal Botanic Gardens contains over 2000 works on Botany, Natural History and Chemistry.
Plaza de Murillo
Inside the Botanical Garden

Directions:
       Real Jardín Botánico
       Plaza de Murillo, 2
       28014 Madrid
       Phone: +34 91 420 30 17
       inforjb@rjb.csic.es
       http://www.rjb.csic.es/

    Opening times:
       January, February, November and December from 10 am to 6 pm.
       March and October from 10 am to 7 pm.
       April and September from 10 am to 8 pm.
       May, June, July and August from 10 am to 9 pm.

       * The public entrance to the Garden is by Murillo Gate, in front of the Prado Museum.

    Closed:
       It is open to the public every day of the year, except 25 December and 1 January.

    * More info about the Opening hours and Ticket Prices: information and reservations

    * Admission is free for the following visitors: Senior citizens (aged 65 and over), children under 10, school groups, school teachers, journalists visiting on media business.

Subway transportation:
    * Line 1 - Pinar de Chamartín/Valdecarros: Atocha or Atocha Renfe stations.
    * Line 2 - Cuatro Caminos/Las Rosas: Banco de España station.


Botanico Location