Segovia information
San Idelfonso (La Granja) information
Situated 11 kilometres from Segovia, at the foot of the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains and set in unique natural surroundings is the Royal Residence of La Granja de San Ildefonso, a grand and impressive palace begun in 1721 on the site of an old lodging house.
King Felipe V retired here in 1724 and tried to create a residence
in the style of court at Versailles. In order to do so, for the
next 20 years he extended the gardens and the palace, which was
used as a summer residence by all his successors until Alfonso
XIII. Several architects were involved in its construction and
they produced a beautiful mixture of the Spanish baroque and the
French style with subtle traces of Italian design. In the collegiate
church lies the tomb of the monarch, accompanied by his wife Isabel
de Farnesio. The palace visit takes in dazzling rooms which preserve
their period decoration, paintings by Panini and Flemish painting
from the 17th century, as well as beautiful tapestries gathered
in the museum, which contains, among other works, the series of
the Apocalyspe, from the 16th century. The palace environment
is made complete with spectacular gardens containing a variety
of species of plants and decorated with statues and 26 monumental
fountains, some of whose spouts throw jets of water 40 metres
into the air. The collection of historic buildings is rounded
off with the Royal Glass Factory of La Granja, an 18th-century
structure with an ongoing collection and other temporary exhibitions
devoted to the art of glass-making.
Oficina de Turismo: Paseo del Pocillo, s/n
40100 San Ildefonso (o La Granja) (Segovia)
Tel. +34 921470018
Source: Web server of Instituto de Turismo de España, TURESPAÑA.