Atractions: Royal Palace and Gardens of La Granja, Monumental Fountains, Royal Collegiate Church and the Woodland and Palace of Riofrío.

Located at the foot of the Guadarrama mountain and less than 11 km. far from Segovia, La Granja Royal Palace, better known as “La Granja” (The Farm) is a beautiful example of Baroque architecture. In the 18th century, Philip V, the first Bourbon king in Spain, ordered it to build to become his favourite residence and where the Spanish court spent the long summer season until the time of Alphonse XIII. Its magnificent and extensive gardens, its monumental fountains, unique in Spain, and its privileged location make this visit a perfect union of history, nature and mythology. This Palace-museum, with a French and Italian influence, houses  an interesting and valuable collection of works of art that decorated this royal residence during centuries: an amazing  ensemble of 15th-16th centuries Flemish tapestries, the frescoes of vaulted ceilings, the remarkable crystal chandeliers made in the Royal Glass Factory located in the same village and an endless number of paintings, pieces of furniture… offer the visitor the opportunity to move to the time of life of the court. As a part of  the palace, it`s possible to visit the Royal Collegiate Church of the Holy Trinity, where  Philip V and his second wife, Isabella Farnese, were buried at the express wish of themselves. The crypt is also the burial of the Infanta Isabel de Borbón, know as “La Chata” (snub-nose), who felt specially attached to this royal seat.

A few kilometres away from La Granja and in a natural environment of 600 hectares, we can find the Riofrío Palace, one of the most beautiful example of Italian-influenced palace in Spain whose construction was ordered by Isabella Farnese in 1752, but it was never inhabited or even concluded. This square ground plan palace erects in the middle of a wood of evergreen oaks, junipers and ash trees where a significant number of deer and fallow deer, among other emblematic species, live for delighting of visitors. Probably that is why it became a perfect hunting lodge in the 19th and 20th centuries. There were two monarchs especially linked to this palace: the king consort, Francisco de Asís, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II of Spain, who used it in hunting season from time to time, and his son, Alphonse XII who chose this place in mourning for his first wife, María de las Mercedes de Orleans. The palace, whose decoration has been adapted to the time when it was in use, has been completed with a Hunting Museum that houses a large number of stuffed animals related to the game.