Senda Botánica Autoguiada

Los jardines más antiguos

Las Jardines por los que transcurre este primer tramo de la senda presentan los trazados conservados más antiguos del Retiro. Fueron malzados en el siglo XVIII, durante los reinados de Fellipe Vy Carlos III, cuando el parque todavia un jardin que completatia la residencia real mandara construir Felipe IV, Inaugurada en 1633 como lugar destinado al descanso y la diversión de la Corte. Aunque estos jardines del siglo XVIII ya no conservan arbolado original, con la posible excepción de dos robles que pueden ronder los 250 aflos en ellos pueden verne algunas de las espedes que omaban aquellos vergeles, como la robinia, el boj, el roble, el olmo o el dprés, conviviendo otras de plantación más reciente como la catalpa.

Dejando atrás los trazados dieciochescos y antes de entrar en el Parterre, la senida nos lleva hasta el Estanque de las Campanillas, que es, junto al Estanque Grande, el único elemento conservado del Retiro del siglo XVII Alll podremos contemplar u espectacular grupo de álamos blancos plentados en el siglo XX

El Parterre es un jardin mandado construir por Felipe V, el primer ney Borbón de Espalla hecho a imagen y semejanza de los parterres de Versalles con la intención de otorgar una imagen miks francesa al Retiro Se construyó a costa de destruir el Jardin Orduvado, un jardin de ocho calles cubiertas por "túneles de verdura, como les llamaba entonces, que fue el jardin prinopel do Retiro to Campos de Felipe TV y de su hijo Carlos II. Para construir el Parterre se talaron los árboles que habla en e Ochavado y se ravel del terreno, pues este tipo de Jardines como alfombras vegetales que están pensados para ser vistos desde el palacio o desde un nivel elevado del Janfin. El Parterre era originalmente un jardin sin árboles, aunque en el siglo XIX se empezaron a incluir en el numerosas especies arboreas que lo transformaron en un verdadero bosque. En los afios 70 del siglo XX, Pita Romero, responsable del Retiro, le devolvió en parte su carácter original, aunque no pudo resistirse a mantener algunos de los añosos árboles que en di nabian crecido, como el magnolle, los cadros, los cipreses, ahuehuete. Estos árboles, que desvirtuan la estética original del Parterre, le confieren sin embargo una pecullar aparienda, y son ademés ejemplares extraordinarios, de gran belleza.

En la parte final de la senda, de camino hada el Bosque del Racuendo, encontramos magnificos castaño de Indias, que son los árboles máis abundarmes del parque.

[Maps:
Route described on the sign
and the route on the complete park map]

Buen Retiro Park is the central park of the city of Madrid and is designated a World Heritage Site (since 2021).

This sign is part of a series of signs used for self-navigation in the park.

The maps appearing on the sign are shown here in enlarged format
The section of the route described on the sign Click for a larger image
The routes on the complete park map Click for a larger image

The area where the sign is located was photographed on the same day Click for a larger image

Translation of the text on the sign:

Self-Guided Botanical Trail

The Oldest Gardens

The gardens through which this first section of the trail passes present the oldest preserved layouts in the Retiro Park. They were planted in the 18th century, during the reigns of Philip V and Charles III, when the park was still a garden that completed the royal residence ordered by Philip IV. It was inaugurated in 1633 as a place for the Court’s relaxation and recreation. Although these 18th-century gardens no longer retain their original trees, with the possible exception of two oak trees that may be around 250 years old, you can see some of the grasses that once graced those orchards, such as black locust, boxwood, oak, elm, and primrose, alongside more recently planted ones such as catalpa.

Leaving behind the eighteenth-century layouts and before entering the Parterre, the entrance leads us to the Bluebell Pond, which is, along with the Great Pond, the only preserved element of the 17th-century Retiro Park. There we can contemplate a spectacular group of white poplars planted in the 20th century.

The Parterre is a garden commissioned by Philip V, the first Bourbon monarch of Spain, built in the image and likeness of the parterres of Versailles with the intention of giving the Retiro Park a more French image. It was built at the expense of destroying the Orduvado Garden, a garden of eight lanes covered by "tunnels of greenery," as they were called at the time, which was the main garden of the Retiro Park of Philip V and his son Charles II. To build the Parterre, the trees on the Octavado were felled and the land was leveled, as these types of gardens are like vegetal carpets that are designed to be seen from the palace or from a elevated level of the Janfin. The Parterre was originally a treeless garden, although in the 19th century, numerous tree species began to be included, transforming it into a true forest. In the 1970s, Pita Romero, the curator of the Retiro, partially restored it to its original character, although she could not resist keeping some of the old trees that had grown there, such as the magnolia, the cadros, the cypresses, and the ahuehuete. These trees, which distort the original aesthetics of the Parterre, nevertheless give it a peculiar appearance and are also extraordinary specimens of great beauty.

At the end of the path, on the way to the Bosque del Racuendo, we find magnificent horse chestnut trees, which are the most abundant trees in the park.