ARANJUEZ (perhaps the

See also:

• ANCIENT
• ANCIENT (also spelt ANTIENT; derived, through the Fr. ancien, old, from the late Lat. antianum, from ante, before)

ancient Ara Jovis)  , a town of central Spain, in the province of Madrid, 30 M . S. of Madrid, on the left bank of the river Tagus, at the junction of the main southern railways to Madrid, and at the western terminus of the Aranjuez-Cuenca railway . Pop . (1900) 12,670 . Aranjuez occupies part of a wide valley, about 1500 ft. above the sea . Its formal, straight streets, crossing one another regularly at right angles, and its uniform, two-storeyed houses were built in imitation of the Dutch style, under the direction of Jeronimo, marquis de Grimaldi (1716-1788), ambassador of Charles III. at the Hague . A rapid in the Tagus, artificially converted into a weir, renders irrigation easy, and has thus created an oasis in the midst of the ARANY barren plateau of New Castile . On every side the town is surrounded by royal parks and woods of sycamores, plane-trees and elms, often of extraordinary size . The prevalence of the dark English elms, first introduced into the country and planted here by order of Philip II . (1527-1598), gives to the Aranjuez district a character wholly distinct from that of other Spanish landscapes; and at an early period, despite the unhealthy climate, and especially the oppressive summer heat, which often approaches roe F., Aranjuez became a favourite residence of the Spanish court . In the 14th and 15th centuries, the master of the Order of Santiago had a country seat here, which passed, along with the mastership, into the possession of the crown of Spain in 1.522 . Its successive occupants, from the emperor Charles V .

(1500-1558) down to

Ferdinand VII . (1784-1833), modified it according to their respective tastes . The larger palace was built by Pedro Caro for Philip V . (1683-1746), in the French style of the period . It overlooks the Jardin de la Isla, a beautiful garden laid out for Philip II. on an island in the Tagus, which forms the scene of Schiller's famous drama Don Carlos . The Casa del Labrador, or Labourer's Cottage, as it is called, is a smaller palace built by Charles IV. in 1803, and full of elaborate ornamentation . The chief local industry is farming, and an annual fair is held in September for the sale of live stock . Great attention is given to the rearing of horses and mules, and the royal stud used to be remarkable for the beauty of its cream-coloured breed . The treaty of 1772 between France and Spain was concluded at Aranjuez, which afterwards suffered severely from the French during the Peninsular War . Here, also, in 1808, the insurrection broke out which ended in the abdication of Charles-IV . For a fuller description of Aranjuez see D.S . Vinas y Rey,Aranjuez (Madrid, 1890) ; F .

Nard, Guia de Aranjuez, su historia y description (Madrid, 1851), (illustrated);

Alvarez de Quindos, Description historica del real bosque y casa de Aranjuez (Madrid, 1804) .