Velázquez Palace is located in the Retiro Park in Madrid, Community of Madrid, Spain.
It was built between 1881 and 1883 for the National Mining Exhibition held in the city between May and November 1883. The architect Ricardo Velázquez Bosco, from whom the palace takes its name, directed the project, which included Alberto de Palacio y Elissague, engineer, and Daniel Zuloaga y Boneta, ceramist.
It is a large neoclassical, red-brick-and-tile building covered with iron vaults and glass to naturally illuminate the rooms. It was built between 1881 and 1883, for the National Exhibition to display the achievements in the field of mining, metallurgy, ceramics, glass-making and mineral water industries.
With dimensions of 73.80 by 28.75 metres (242.1 ft × 94.3 ft), it is one of the architect’s most monumental buildings, although not as large as the Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación. It was built in two-toned brick and tiles by the Royal Factory of La Moncloa.
The Palacio de Velázquez is the only surviving building of a number of pavilions erected for the mining exhibition. However, roughly 150 metres (490 ft) southwest there is a smaller building by Ricardo Velázquez, the Palacio de Cristal.
The Palacio is currently operated by the Ministry of Culture, and is dedicated to temporary exhibitions of Spain’s national museum of modern art, the Reina Sofía museum.
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