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The Shortest History of Madrid — home

Glimpse 5 of 7

The glass-and-iron Crystal Palace beside a still green lake in a park, under a clear blue sky.

El Retiro

The Crystal Palace

The Crystal Palace in El Retiro park. It opened in the late 19th century with the now notorious ‘Philippines Exhibition’ in which Filipinos were brought over to enact their ‘exotic’ lifestyle for the edutainment of local citizens - just as the Spanish empire itself was crumbling. It is now a venue for the exhibition of contemporary art.

Photograph by Linda Jaivin