Buen Retiro Palace, Palacio Del Buen Retiro, Madrid, Spain Editorial Photo

The Museo del Prado is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It features one of the worlds finest collections of European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 19th century, based on the former Spanish Royal Collection, and unquestionably the best single collection of Spanish art. Founded as a museum of paintings and sculpture in 1819, it also contains important collections of other types of works. El Prado is one of the most visited sites in the world, and is considered one the greatest museums of art in the world. The numerous works by Francisco de Goya, the single most extensively represented artist, as well as by Diego Velázquez, El Greco, Titian, Peter Paul Rubens and Hieronymus Bosch are some of the highlights of the collection. Buen Retiro Palace (Spanish: Palacio del Buen Retiro) in Madrid was a large palace complex designed by the architect Alonso Carbonell (c. 1590–1660) and built on the orders of Philip IV of Spain as a secondary residence and place of recreation (hence its name). It was built in what was then the eastern limits of the city of Madrid. Today what little remains of its buildings and gardens forms the Retiro Park.