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La Granja de San Ildefonso Picture of the royal palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso Date: Sep-2008 Camera: Sony DSC-H5 Comments: The Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso is one of the residences of the Spanish Royal Family and is located in the town of San Ildefonso in Segovia. It is managed by the National Trust and open to the public. The Real Sitio de La Granja is located on the northern slope of the Sierra de Guadarrama, 13 km from Segovia, and about 80 kilometers from Madrid. Its name comes from an old farm monastery that the jeronimos monks of the Segovian montastery of El Parral had here. The palace was built during the reign of King Philip V of Spain, who was impressed by the beauty of the place while hunting. The king, who wanted to get away from the old Palace of the Hapsburgs, ordered Teodoro Ardemans the construction of a small baroque palace with large gardens. |