Madrid - Plaza de Oriente

Madrid owes the Plaza de Oriente to Napoleon's brother, who ruled Spain as King Joseph I from 1808 to 1813. Work on the construction of the square, which was designed to create a vista between the Puerta del Sol and the Palacio Real, was suspended after the War of Liberation and the return of Ferdinand VII to the Spanish throne, and the square was completed in its present form only in the reign of his daughter Isabella II. It is a harmonious ensemble of gardens, trees and buildings, notable among which is the massive Teatro Real.

On the other side of the square is the Convento de la Encarnación.