The formal French-style gardens on the north side of the Palacio Real, laid out in the 1930s on the site of the palace's former stables and named after the 18th-century Sicilian architect Francesco Sabatini who designed those stables. The gardens are a precise geometry of clipped hedges, white marble statues of Spanish kings, a long central reflecting pool, and avenues of cypress.
The combination of the formal greenery, the white statues, and the looming royal palace behind makes for one of the most theatrical garden compositions in central Madrid — particularly at sunset when the long shadows stretch across the lawn. Free, open during daylight hours. Combine with a walk along the Campo del Moro gardens on the western flank of the palace, or with a visit to the Templo de Debod a few hundred metres north.