| Show special correspondence to an american the roal palace at madrid is a place of peculiar interest Int elest as the home of a monarch whose powerful kingdom ruled the new world from which but recently it 1 as been expelled by the great republic t the west the gleat loss of asiain in relinquishing its possess ons across the atlantic Is never fill lealler leal led by the traveler tia veler until on sh sol he the evidences ot the 1 ing dom s i ast glora an 1 riches both due to her early admirals and sol d ra 1 ei 11 lag tamly in i c of ilg 1 state the pro d trad aloni tl e are never tor of ten and the L t is maintained a nearly as bib at the p ch of elegance thu it formerly m ir bained it Is said however that fru bality rules in the home of the mouthful king of spain a frugal ity enforced by the condition of a country impoverished b a decadence that cone can stay the roial residence at madrid is a most imposing palace and by a curi queens room ous parallel it is excel ed w its pro tons only by the regal habitations of two other sick monarchies in eu rope namely the winter palace of the czar at st petersburg and the pal ace oi the sultan at constantinople the irony of fate being herein exem by the evident fact that the strength ot a nation is not to be judged by the size of its rulers pal aces on command ng S te standing on a high bank beside the dry valley of a river bed the royal palace at madrid has a most corn manding site its walls encompass about five acres of ground and its fa facade is feet long it was erect ed in 1728 64 from designs by an italian architect to replace a palace that was burned the site was form ariy occupied by a moorish alcanzar alca azar or citadel the first cost of the pres ent palace was about 16 the material used in its construction was granite travelers wishing to inspect the palace may do so in the absence of the royal it is rich in belica furniture and ornamentation of in terest its throne room or hall of the ambassadors a term borrowed from the moors contains a superb throne approached by four steps guarded by life size lions in bronze gilded with pure gold the room Is also notable for its splendid chandelier of rich rock crystal mounted in sil ver its numerous mirrors marble panell mosaics and generally ele gant decoration the state dining room is the largest in europe and contains a fresco representing colum bua bringing the treasures of america to ferdinand and isabella in the armory of the palace Is a most interesting collection including armor worn by columbus and b boabdil last of the moorish kings driven out of granada the ear co lumbus discovered america there are also shown the swords of cor lez and pizarro the conquerors of present madrid has been built in the last years it dates back as the capital of spain from the time of charles V that monarch having es his there tor political reasons not deeming it practicable to make any one of the old capitals 0 the formerly independent spanish states the national capital the site 0 madrid 1 ad nothing to recommend it except that it nas in the geographical center of the it ib on a bar ren treeless plateau 2 feet above the sea a legion of sand and rocks without vegetation where the climate in simmer is intolerably hot and in winter coll and aandy the river manzanares abich aurs gh madrid and is spanned by handsome bridges in spring is a roar ing torrent 1 ut most of the ear pro vides sich a trickle of water that the wasi can hardly car ry on their business in the holes in its dr bed when the first bridge was b i it aei it a court wit remarked that the king should either buy a river or sell the bridge when the french soldiers entered madrid in osos they made sport of the river and of tl e spaniards by saying what do the spanish rivers also run awaya part of throne room mexico and peru here also may be seen the armor of the various periods of spain s greatest military ments historically the palace at madrid has many associations with great fig ures of the past 00 ears in the at fairs ot the country it was on its grand staircase that napoleon stood his dream of conquest come true and sighed happily at last I 1 have this spain so long retired here also he remarked to his brother joseph whom be had made king you will be better lodged than I 1 madrid a modern ty aside from Us palaces and its gal ceries madrid has little worthy the attention of the traveler it is the least spanish city in the kingdom the old madrid of song and story scarcely exists today a modern city having bawl begun in the french style on he site of the oder town that bore the of madrid ahe |
