Aranjuez

The position of Aranjuez, where two rivers meet and an important road corridor passes through, has drawn people here since the earliest times. Surveys carried out in the 1980s identified more than a hundred archaeological sites in the area, covering a span from the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic through the Neolithic, the Chalcolithic — including Bell Beaker culture finds at Algodor — the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. During the Iron Age the territory belonged to the Carpetani people.

Before Roman conquest, the Tagus ford near Oreja was the site of a battle between Hannibal's Carthaginian forces and the Carpetani, which the Carthaginians won. Later, during Rome's conquest of Hispania, Carpetani, Olcades and Vettones all fought in the area, and after the fall of Toletum the whole zone came under Roman control. Several Roman roads crossed the region — routes connecting Toledo northeast through Titulcia and Complutum toward Zaragoza and Tarragona, and north through Pinto and Segovia.

Roman-era roof tiles and terra sigillata pottery found near the Senda Galiana suggest roadside settlement; a probable Roman villa stood at Soto del Hinojar, and late Roman ceramics were recovered at Las Cuevas. Visigothic presence is confirmed by the necropolis of Cacera de las Ranas, discovered in 1986, which contained around 150 burials with gypsum slab construction, spanning several centuries, and likely served rural settlements along the road between Toletum and Complutum. The Muslim period left few physical traces, though the castle of Oreja was a significant stronghold along the Tagus.

Toledo fell to Alfonso VI in 1085, but the Almoravids retook Oreja in 1113. Alfonso VII recovered it in 1139 and began repopulating the area. The Order of Santiago received the Encomienda de Oreja in 1171.

As military conflict moved south, Oreja declined and Ocaña rose as the Order's seat. Aranjuez itself became a favoured rest residence for the Order's grand masters, and between 1387 and 1409 a manor house was built on roughly the same site as the later royal palace.

The Royal Palace stands on the site of the old masters' house of the Order of Santiago. It was built in Renaissance style, using brick and Colmenar limestone, a two-tone combination that became a hallmark of Aranjuez's later architecture. The original design called for a square, two-storey building with an interior courtyard and a main façade extended by two wing-and-tower ends.

Construction began under Philip II between 1565 and 1586, to designs by Juan Bautista de Toledo and continued by Jerónimo Gili and Juan de Herrera, producing the southern tower, part of the façade and the south wing. Philip V ordered work to resume, and between 1715 and 1733 Pedro Caro Idrogo added the east wing, part of the north wing and a grand staircase. From 1741 Santiago Bonavía replaced that staircase, completed the north and northwest sections, and reworked the roof; by 1750–51, under Ferdinand VI, he finished the central façade.

Finally, Charles III commissioned Francisco Sabatini to add two further wings to the west between 1771 and 1778. Surrounding the palace is a series of gardens created between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Jardín del Rey, designed by Juan Bautista de Toledo in 1561 and built by Juan de Herrera between 1577 and 1582, features sculpture with Roman imperial iconography.

The Jardín de la Isla, also traced in 1561 by Toledo and Herrera, runs along a central axis lined with fountains and sculptural groups. The Jardín del Parterre, completed between 1728 and 1735 to a design by Esteban Marchand, follows the French formal garden model, with three large sections arranged around four fountains. The Jardín del Príncipe is the largest, unifying earlier areas with new landscaped space; Pablo Boutelou worked there from 1775 to 1784, and he and Juan de Villanueva continued until 1808.

It contains several fountains, islands, a Chinese-style pond and the neoclassical Casa del Labrador. The Jardín de Isabel II, created in the early nineteenth century, was Aranjuez's first public garden. Between the Embocador weir to the east and the Jarama channel to the west, a broad area of tree-lined promenades was laid out from around 1561, when Juan Bautista de Toledo planned the initial grid at Pico Tajo, later extended to the zones of Doce Calles, El Rebollo and Legamarejo, with plazas and roundabouts punctuating the layout.

Aranjuez is served by Madrid's Cercanías C-3 line; the journey from Atocha, Sol or Chamartín takes roughly 45–55 minutes. In summer, RENFE occasionally runs the Strawberry Train (el Tren de la Fresa), a tourist steam service from Madrid. By car, use the M-50, M-40 or M-30 ring roads to join the A-4 (Autovía Sur, direction Córdoba) and exit at km 37 (under the arched footbridge) onto the M-305 toward Aranjuez — watch for a tight left bend and two lanes merging.

Free surface parking is available on the left just after the road narrows; paid underground parking is in Calle Valeras, reached by turning right under the arch by the church. Restaurants cover a wide range of budgets, with main meals running from around €10 to €100 per person. Local specialities include Aranjuez strawberries (famous across Spain), small whole-eating artichokes and asparagus — either mature white blanco or thin young green brotes.