Gardens of Aranjuez

The Gardens of Aranjuez are a royal garden complex in Aranjuez, Spain, with over four hundred species of trees and shrubs spread across several areas. The different sections carry names such as Island Garden, Queen's Garden and Prince's Garden, each with its own character and vegetation.

Spanish monarchs began creating the gardens in the sixteenth century as a royal retreat along the Tagus River. Each generation added new landscape styles, from Baroque formal gardens to English parkland in the nineteenth century.

The Island Garden follows the shape of an artificial river island surrounded by canals and offers shade under old trees during summer. The Queen's Garden shows flower beds and groomed paths that still follow the original layout from the eighteenth century.

The gardens are open to visitors without charge and work well for a longer walk along shaded paths. The fountains run on weekends and holidays during morning and afternoon hours.

The Trinidad Plane Tree is the tallest tree in the Madrid region and reaches forty-seven meters (one hundred fifty feet) in height with an age of two hundred twenty years. Its trunk has a circumference of more than six meters (twenty feet) and stands in the Prince's Garden near the river.