These extremely beautiful gardens slope down westward from the Royal Palace toward the River Manzanares. Named after a medieval Arab chieftain who attempted a siege of the fortress that occupied the spot where the palace now stands, the park boasts a well-tended profusion of lawns, trees, and flowers. There are also two magnificent fountains: the 17th-century Triton originally located in the Aranjuez Palace gardens and the other, Las Conchas, built by Ventura Rodríguez a century later. The still-advertised Museo de Carruajes (Carriage Museum), tucked away in a corner of the grounds, has, alas, been closed for many years. You can only enter the park from the lower side beside the Paseo de la Virgen del Puerto (which involves a longish roundabout walk via Cuesta de la Vega if you are visiting the Royal Palace first).

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Madrid, 3rd Edition, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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