Logbook · 15 places

Casita del Infante

San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Cuenca del Guadarrama, Madrid

1 Villages · 9 Monuments · 2 Nature · 1 Activities · 1 Curiosities · 1 Historical milestones

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Casita del Infante

Monument · San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Cuenca del Guadarrama, Madrid

Also called the Casita de Arriba, it was built by Juan de Villanueva between 1771 and 1773 as a retreat for the Infante Gabriel de Borbón, son of Charles III, who was fond of chamber music; it stands on the slope of the Abantos and looks down on the monastery from above. It is a square-plan Neoclassical building in granite stone, with a portico of Ionic columns on the main façade and Italian-style gardens on descending terraces, designed so that the music could also be heard from outside. The original decoration was lost, and the present one dates from the reigns of Charles IV and Ferdinand VII, with a vault frescoed by Vicente Gómez. King Juan Carlos lived here before his marriage, and his bedroom and study are preserved; it is now under the care of Patrimonio Nacional.

Photo: losmininos (CC BY-SA 2.0)

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