Royal Palace of Madrid

This guide to the Royal Palace of Madrid opens on Christmas Eve, 1734, when a curtain caught fire in the rooms of the French court painter Jean Ranc inside the medieval fortress that once stood on this exact site. You'll hear about the monks and soldiers who raced to save paintings by Titian, Rubens and Velazquez as the blaze spread over four days, and the decision King Philip the Fifth made afterward. Look at the walls around you as you walk through the state rooms.