Casa de Campo park

This is an enormous green area covering 1,722 hectares, located just outside Madrid. Philip II acquired this property –including a mansion and the land– in around 1560 or 1561. The estate stands opposite the outcrop overlooking the Manzanares River, and once belonged to the noble Vargas family. He later converted it into a Renaissance villa for private rather than official use, and surrounded it with beautiful gardens, a reflection of his tastes. Documented descriptions and remnants of structures have made it possible to recreate a place whose Mannerist style can be identified through its typical elements: grottoes, mazes, 'giochi d'acqua' (concealed jets of water to spray unsuspecting visitors), and so on, set in a veritable oasis surrounded by dense trees, which were planted at that time.