Includes index.

The eight royal palaces of Spain span more than a thousand years of Spanish history and, for most Spaniards, represent the heart of their national patrimony. The earliest of these magnificent structures. the Alcazar of Seville, dates from the reign of Abdal Rahman II (A.D. 822-852) but bears the imprint of later caliphs who considerably enlarged the palace and decorated it with fabulous stucco and gesso work. The most important of the palaces, at least from a historical perspective, may be the Escorial, constructed by Charles V and his son, Philip II, as a monastery and imperial retreat from the turbulent world of 16th-century Spain.

Some of the palaces, notably the Palacio Real of Madrid and the Pardo, were elaborately frescoed and furnished in exalted Bourbon taste. Others, such as the rose-and-turquoise Riofrio, were designed with immaculate taste and decorated with restraint. The royal family's favorite palace, the Almudaina, is an amazing marriage of Mudejar inlays and detail, Gothic severity, and Empire furnishings, set against the backdrop of lush palm trees and bougainvillea in modern-day Mallorca.