Castles of Madrid
The history of the region can not be understood without looking back to the Middle Ages and the fortifications and castles that one day organized and defended their territory. Today they constitute some of the most spectacular and evocative testimonies of this time.
The Community of Madrid keeps a good number of well-preserved and open-minded fortifications that tell us about our medieval past and the noble families of that time. Castles like the Duke of the Infantado in Manzanares El Real that offers one of the most spectacular pictures of the Madrid mountain landscape; the one Gonzalo Chacón in Arroyomolinos, an indispensable character in the court of the Catholic Kings; "La Coracera" in San Martín de Valdeiglesias, a typical noble residence symbol of the power of the noble in its territory; the one of the Mendoza in Buitrago de Lozoya place of exceptional beauty in which the Middle Ages beats in every corner of its fortified enclosure; the castle of the Santiaguista encomienda in Villarejo de Salvanés From the terrace you can see one of the best sunsets in Madrid. And the great unknown, the castle of Count of Barajas in La Alameda, in the middle of an urban park within the city of Madrid.
All of them are located in towns with a lot of charm and a great gastronomic, cultural and natural attraction.
Castillo de la Coracera in San Martín de Valdeiglesias
The castle of La Coracera was sent to build 1434 by the powerful "prime minister" of Juan II, Don Alvaro de Luna, Condestable of Castile and Master of the Order of Santiago, to become Lord of San Martin. From this castle, Don Alvaro, sometimes accompanied by the king himself, left for his hunts in the mountains in which he charged wild boars, deer and even bears that then abounded in our mountains.
Castle of Manzanares El Real
This castle, jewel of the medieval architecture of the Kingdom of Castile, was built by Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, 1st Duke of the Infantado, towards 1475.
The walls of this stately castle really hide the comfortable palace of a small court at the dawn of the Renaissance, with ample space to cover all your protocol needs, large rooms and even a church with three naves.
Castle of Gonzalo Chacón in Arroyomolinos
In the fifteenth century, during the struggle for the throne between the supporters of Juana La Beltraneja and Isabel La Católica, the nobles built many castles or reinforced existing ones, also incorporating a new weapon whose use was generalized at that time: artillery. This happened in Arroyomolinos. His lord was Gonzalo Chacón, faithful servant of Queen Isabel.
Castillo de los Zapata in La Alameda, Barajas
The fortified residence of the lords of Barajas was probably built in 1475. The Zapatas prospered notably until receiving the title of Condes de Barajas in 1575. The count then turned the castle into a recreational village. The first of those that would later be established along the Camino de Aragón, such as the nearby Capricho de los Duques de Osuna or the Villas de Torre Arias and Suances, next to Calle de Alcalá.
Fortified site of Buitrago del Lozoya and Castillo de los Mendoza
Buitrago was repopulated in the 12th century after the Castilian conquest of Toledo. The first phase of the wall could be 1134, when King Alfonso VII granted the villa privileges to favor its repopulation. From that moment, Buitrago grew as the head of the rich valley of Lozoya and place of passage for the Calzada Real Segoviana. In 1369, the town will become the domain of the Mendoza and a few years later, the Marquis of Santillana built the Mudejar style castle occupying one of the best defended corners of the wall.
Castle of the Order of Santiago in Villarejo de Salvanés
The strength of the Order of Santiago, the most powerful of the Castilian military orders created in the twelfth century to defend the "reconquered" territories in Al-Andalus, was born with the mission to protect the eastern flank of Toledo, near the river Block. The archaeological excavations reveal the successive construction stages of a fortification whose remains are still preserved in the surroundings of the Torre del Homenaje.