Known as the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid, it is a research centre of the Higher Council for Scientific Research. It was founded by Royal Order in 1755 by King Ferdinand VI in the Soto de Migas Calientes, near the Manzanares River. Charles III ordered its transfer to its current location in 1781, on the Paseo del Prado, next to the Museum of Natural Sciences that was being built. This botanical garden houses plants from the Americas and the Pacific, as well as European plants, on three stepped terraces.

Taking advantage of the unevenness of the terrain, the living plants on display to the public are arranged on four terraces: the Terrace of the Paintings, the Terrace of the Botanical Schools, the Terrace of the Plane of the Flower and the Upper Terrace or the Terrace of the Laurels.

It also has scientific collections, such as the herbarium, the library and archive and the Germplasm Bank.