It is a garden located in the Spanish city of Madrid. Declared of historical-artistic interest in 1931, it occupies an area of some twenty hectares, stretching from east to west, from the western façade of the Royal Palace to the Paseo de la Virgen del Puerto. From north to south its limits are formed by the Cuesta de San Vicente and the Cuesta de la Vega and the Parque de Atenas.

The gardens are characterised by the steep slope caused by the ravine between the palace and the banks of the Manzanares River. They were laid out in 1844 by the architect Narciso Pascual y Colomer, who designed a formalist ensemble, although the landscaping work could not be carried out until the end of the 19th century. These were carried out by Ramón Oliva, who altered the original concept with a Romantic approach. Prior to this date, the area was practically neglected.

It is one of the three garden enclosures that adorn the surroundings of the Royal Palace, but unlike the other two, it is managed not by Madrid City Council but by Patrimonio Nacional, the body on which the possessions that were in the hands of the Spanish Crown depend.

The layout of the gardens echoes the different currents, the result of the vicissitudes that occurred during the different phases of their construction. As a result, it does not have homogeneous characteristics and combines styles as disparate as formalism and naturalism. The mixture of influences is also visible in the buildings on the site, with allusions to rural models, neo-Gothic and functional architecture.

From the point of view of the landscaping, groves of trees dominate, configured according to the romantic tastes of the period, which are combined with touches of English landscaping, as in the case of the Meadows of the Vistas del Sol.