Buen Retiro Park. House of Animals (Casa de Fieras)

In 1774, the enlightened king-reformer calos III ordered to organize a menagerie in Madrid. It was the second zoo in Europe, after the one in Vienna.

Aviaries for large animals were as close as possible to the natural environment, such as this grotto, which imitated a cave where lions were kept.

In the 18th and early 19th century, the animals kept here were used not only for scientific purposes, one of the amusements of the Royal court was fighting lions with bulls.

After the invasion of Napoleon, the zoo fell into a deplorable state and in 1830, under Ferdinand VII, a new menagerie was built near the Santa Barbara gate of Retiro Park.

A long two-story building named La Leonela (from Leon-lion) was decorated with ceramics with Arabic ornaments. On the lower floor, lions, tigers, Panthers, hyenas, and jackals were kept. The upper floor was occupied by the rooms of the Royal family, decorated with stuffed animals and skins of wild animals.

During the Civil war, the zoo was on the verge of extinction, animals died of cold and hunger, and some were simply sent to the Republican authorities for meat. In addition ,the "fighters for national happiness" threw their prisoners from among their "ideological prisoners" to be torn to pieces by hungry predators enemies" - Falangists and Church servants.

After Franco's victory, the Casa de Fieras was not only restored, but also fairly replenished with unique individuals. During the second world war, many European zookeepers found shelter in neutral Spain. After the war, the Madrid zoo was the most visited in Europe, during the holidays there were up to 200 thousand people. The menagerie in Retiro lasted until 1972, when it moved to a new and spacious Biopark in the Casa del Campo. Leonela is now occupied by the Eugenio Trias public library.