The Royal Palace of Aranjuez () is one of the official residences of the Spanish royal family. It is located in the town of Aranjuez (Madrid), Spain. Established in the 16th century as a royal hunting lodge, the palace was built by order of Philip II. Under his reign it became one of four seasonal seats of the court along Rascafría, El Escorial and the Royal Alcázar of Madrid. The royal estate comprises a set of landscaped and ornate gardens and woodlands that house an extensive botanical collection. Several international treaties were signed there and several members of the royal family died in the palace, including: Elisabeth of Valois in 1568, Barbara of Portugal in 1758, Elisabeth Farnese in 1766, Maria Antonia of Naples in 1806, Maria Isabel of Braganza in 1818 and Maria Josepha Amalia of Saxony in 1828. In 1931, during the Second Spanish Republic, the royal estate was declared an Artistic Historical Monument and opened to the public. From 1977 to 1983, the palace served as a state guest house. The palace, gardens and associated buildings are part of the Aranjuez Cultural Landscape, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001. Currently it houses a museum on the ground floor, the royal rooms and gardens are open to the public and its management is entrusted to the public agency Patrimonio Nacional. The area around Aranjuez enjoys a mild climate, a verdant and varied landscape with excellent game hunting and has long been inhabited. History In the 12th century the Order of Santiago created an exclusive hunting reserve alongside the river Tagus near its junction with the river Jarama. Its history as a royal site began in the 16th century, when the order's grandmaster Lorenzo I Suárez de Figueroa directed the construction of a grand hunting lodge designed for the recreation of members of the order and their royal and noble patrons, known as the Raso de Estrella (Star shaped Glade located between the present Royal Palace and Aranjuez railway station.) The site today is an open festival park. In 1523 Charles I of Spain took possession of the area, which was designated Real Bosque y Casa de Aranjuez (Royal Woods and House of Aranjuez), in order to entertain his guests during the springtime hunting season. In 1551, he established a botanical garden to catalog the newly catalogued species of plants brought from the Americas. Owing