The Glass Palace in Madrid: a 19th-century conservatory with a British influence

The Palacio de Cristal, also known as the Glass Palace, is a 19th-century conservatory located in the Buen Retiro Park in Madrid, Spain. It is currently used for art exhibitions. The building is made almost entirely of glass and iron, with a cupola reaching over 22 metres high. When it was erected, glass and iron construction on a large scale was already to be seen in Madrid, but the curved architecture of the Glass Palace is more comparable to the techniques pioneered by British architects such as Joseph Paxton (responsible for London's Crystal Palace) and Decimus Burton (responsible for the Palm House at Kew Gardens).

The Glass Palace was one of the main venues of the 1887 Philippines Exposition. The cast-iron frame was manufactured in Bilbao. The structure has been restored to its original appearance and is no longer used as a greenhouse, but it remains a fascinating example of architecture and design.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons