Charles I took the site in 1523, and Philip II began the palace in 1561. Juan Bautista de Toledo and Juan de Herrera designed the first palace. When Philip died in 1598 only the royal apartments, chapel, south tower and part of the west facade were finished, and work stopped. Philip V resumed in 1700, added a north tower and completed the west facade. Francesco Sabatini designed the two west wings.
A fire in 1748 nearly destroyed it, and Ferdinand VI rebuilt it in a late Baroque style. The inscription on the shield records completion in 1752. It is red brick with white limestone details. The Salón de Porcelana is lined with porcelain from the Buen Retiro factory, and Isabella II's Moorish-style hall dates from 1847 to 1851.
Part of the Aranjuez Cultural Landscape, inscribed by UNESCO in 2001, it has a ground-floor museum and open royal rooms and gardens. Patrimonio Nacional manages it.
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