Early September isn’t probably the best time of year to visit the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid, but it’s always a worthwhile visit.
Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid (Spanish for Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid) is an 8-hectare (20-acre) botanical garden located at Plaza de Murillo, next to the Prado Museum in Madrid (Spain). The garden was founded on October 17, 1755, by King Ferdinand VI, and installed in the Orchard of Migas Calientes, near what today is called Puerta de Hierro, on the banks of the Manzanares River. It contained more than 2,000 plants collected by José Quer y Martínez, botanist and surgeon. In 1774 King Charles III ordered the garden moved to its current location on the Paseo del Prado, with design by architects Francesco Sabatini and Juan de Villanueva that organized the garden into three tiered terraces, arranging plants according to the method of Linnaeus. This new site opened in 1781. Since 1939 the garden has been dependent on the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and in 1942 was declared Artistic Garden. In 1974, after decades of hardship and neglect, the garden was closed to the public for restoration work to its original plan. It reopened in 1981. (Wikipedia).
A Crime is Afoot 