Logbook · 15 places

Casita del Príncipe

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 Príncipe

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

The Casita del Príncipe, or Casita de Abajo, is a Neoclassical pleasure pavilion built between 1771 and 1775 to a design by Juan de Villanueva, one of the leading architects of Spanish Neoclassicism, for the then prince of Asturias, the future Charles IV, and his wife María Luisa. It was raised in an oak wood between the Monastery of El Escorial and the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial; between 1781 and 1784 the west wing was added, with the drawing room and the oval hall. Not far away stands the Casita del Infante, or de Arriba, also by Villanueva, for the Infante Gabriel de Borbón, brother of Charles IV. Declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) in 1931, it remained closed between 1992 and 2000 for restoration. It is managed by Patrimonio Nacional.

Photo: Dorieo (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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