Royal Palace of Madrid
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The Palacio Real de Madrid (Royal Palace of Madrid) is the official home of the King of Spain. It is located in Madrid, Spain. It is one of the largest palace in western Europe. It has more than 2,000 rooms.
King Felipe V had the palace built to replace the Alcazar that was burned down. It is made of limestone and granite. It was supposed to look a little like the Versailles Palace in Paris, France. Juan Bautista Sachetti was in charge of building the palace. They started to build it in 1738. King Carlos III moved into the palace in 1764. It took a hundred years to decorate all the rooms.
Spanish kings lived there until 1931 when King Alfonso XIII was forced to leave Spain. The Royal Palace is still used for special ceremonies. Letizia was supposed to walk on a red carpet from the Royal Palace to the cathedral for the wedding with Prince Felipe but it rained so she was taken in car.
Fifty of the rooms in the palace are open for public visits. Visitors enter the palace from the Plaza de la Armería. Some of the rooms that can be seen are: the 'porcelain' room, 'throne' room and 'clock' room. There is a royal army museum in the palace.
