Paseo de las Estatuas (Walkway of the Statues), Madrid

Despite being officially named Paseo de la Argentina (Argentina Promenade), this section of Retiro Park is commonly known as the Walkway of the Statues. Located between the Gate of Spain ("Puerta de España") and the Large Pond ("Estanque Grande"), it is adorned with 14 sculptures from a series of 114 originally designed by Benedictine friar Martín Sarmiento in 1743. These exquisite artworks were carved by sculptors Juan Domingo Olivieri and Felipe de Castro between 1743-48 and were originally intended for the cornice of the Royal Palace, but fate had different plans for them.

Legend has it that Queen Isabel de Farnesio, the consort and second wife of Felipe V, suffered from nightmares in which the statues would collapse from the palace cornice. As a result, they were dispersed throughout various parts of the city, including the Oriente Square, the Toledo Bridge roundabout, and the Army Museum. Eventually, during the reign of Carlos III, they found themselves in the basement of the palace, as they did not conform to the prevailing aesthetic criteria of the time when Madrid was reevaluating its urban planning. Francisco Sabatini was entrusted with their dismantling and storage.

Around a century later, during the reign of Isabel II in 1842, the statues were restored and reintegrated into various locations, such as Oriente Square, Retiro Park, as well as Aranjuez, Toledo, Burgos, Logroño, and Vitoria. In 1847, thirteen statues of Spanish monarchs were added, spanning from the Middle Ages to the modern era: Fernando IV, Enrique II, García I, Urraca I, Berenguela I, Sancho IV, Alfonso I of Aragon, Suintila, Ramón Berenguer IV, Carlos I, Carlos II, and Gundemaro. The odd number of statues posed a challenge to symmetry.

To address this issue, during the area's reorganization in 1989, an empty pedestal was installed, likely intended for the statue of Alfonso VII, achieving the desired symmetry. Over three decades later, in 2021, the vacant pedestal near the pond was occupied by Queen Juana I of Castile, a tragic figure in Spanish history, known for her mental instability and the complex political struggles surrounding her reign. Her life has been the subject of numerous literary and artistic works, portraying her as a tragic and misunderstood queen.