King Alfonso XII built the Cathedral of Santa María la Real de la Almudena to hold the remains of his wife María de las Mercedes de Orleans. The church was built between 1878 until 1993. The Plaza de Oriente Jardines de Lepanto border this square to the east.

Narciso Pascual Colomer, who created the Plaza de Oriente, laid out the square in 1879, but it was never finished. Enrique María Repullés' new design was completed in 1892.

Philip II built a structure for the royal stables in 1553, which José del Olmo refurbished in 1670. Fire destroyed the building in 1884.26

The Plaza de la Armería was a parade ground for decades. Sachetti wanted to erect a church on top of the Manzanares cornice, while Sabatini suggested combining it with the Royal Palace. Charles III ignored both projects.

Ángel Fernández de los Ríos planned a vast woodland area around the Plaza de Oriente in 1868 to improve views of the Royal Palace. A decade later, Segundo de Lema added a stairway to Fernández's plan, which inspired Francisco de Cubas to prioritize La Almudena's neo-Gothic church, whose historicist and classical design matches the Royal Palace.