The forge of an empire. Courts of poets, warriors, and princesses

San Martín de Valdeiglesias

Castillo de la Coracera

Declared an Asset of Cultural Interest in 1949

Some sources venture to date the construction of the Castillo de la Coracera to 1434, arguing that D. Álvaro de Luna gave 30,000 maravedíes to the monks that year as payment for the ownership of the town and lordship of San Martín de Valdeiglesias. Like the entire region, the territory where the castle currently stands belonged to the abbey lands of the monastery of Santa María la Real de Valdeiglesias.

D. Álvaro de Luna was the most illustrious and powerful figure of the court in his time, often overshadowing the king himself. His fame reached the ears of illustrious poets such as D. Juan de Mena and D. Juan de Manrique, who paid tribute to him in their works.

Don Álvaro de Luna was executed in 1453 due to the influence of his many enemies, two years after the birth of Princess Isabel. But curiously, their destinies were intertwined beyond death. Isabel of Portugal, the little Isabel’s mother, was one of those who most instigated against Don Álvaro to break the strong union that existed between him and her husband, King Juan II. The queen may have poisoned their relationship, but it is not so clear that she was the arch-enemy of the favorite that some have tried to portray. When the queen decided to withdraw to Arévalo, suffering from severe depression that clouded her reason, she was accompanied by Gonzalo Chacón, the person who had most defended Álvaro de Luna during his trial. It was to him that she later entrusted the custody of her two children, Alfonso and Isabel. This is certainly not the behavior one would expect from an arch-adversary of Luna.
For four decades, Arévalo was a sort of voluntary prison that exacerbated the widowed queen’s depression. Traditional chronicles portray her as deranged, wandering the castle corridors, tormented by remorse, screaming the well-known phrase in madness: «Don Álvaro, Don Álvaro!«.

Cadalso de los Vidrios

Palacio del Marqués de Villena

Declared an Asset of Cultural Interest

From this palace, Enrique IV set out for the Venta de los Toros de Guisando to declare his half-sister Isabel heir to Castile, and everyone returned to the palace afterward to continue celebrating the happy event for several days.
There were problems housing and feeding (and even drinking) so many guests, and after twelve days of festivities, they left Cadalso. The king and his retinue headed for Casarrubios del Monte, in Toledo, and the princess and her entourage to Ocaña, while other guests took the roads to Cebreros and Yepes.
This palace was ordered to be built by D. Álvaro de Luna as a summer residence. Originally, it was a castle-fortress. In the 16th century, it was transformed into the beautiful Renaissance palace it is today, but without losing its fortress appearance. After his execution in 1453, the constable’s assets were divided between his widow, Juana Pimentel, and King Juan II, who kept the properties in Cadalso. Later, Juan Pacheco, Marquis of Villena, majordomo and favorite of Enrique IV, took charge of it. But his ownership was short-lived due to his alliance with the “la Beltraneja” faction, a decision that cost the Marquis the loss of Cadalso and Escalona.
Specifically, Queen Isabel owned the lordship of Escalona and Cadalso and, therefore, the palace which was part of her dowry. Legend has it that D. Álvaro de Luna barely visited this palace because a sorceress predicted that he would die on the «cadalso» (scaffold), and curiously, that is what happened. The all-powerful Constable of Castile would die on a public scaffold in the Plaza Mayor of Valladolid on June 2nd or 3rd, 1453. The sorceress was not mistaken…
Although the palace cannot be visited as it is a private residence, we can stroll through the public park formed by the gardens and around the magnificent pond in the palace’s orchard.

Pelayos de la Presa

Monasterio de Santa María la Real de Valdeiglesias

Declared a Historic Monument in 1967 and reaffirmed in 1983 as a National Historic Monument

Among D. Álvaro de Luna’s possessions were the towns of Aldea del Fresno, Villa del Prado, Cadalso de los Vidrios, Rozas de Puerto Real, and Cenicientos. A vast territory he ruled from the fortress of Escalona and sometimes from the Castillo de la Coracera.
The castle he ordered built in the municipality of San Martín de Valdeiglesias after paying 30,000 maravedíes for the ownership of this town to the abbot of the monastery of Santa María La Real de Valdeiglesias. The ruins of that place constitute one of the most important heritage complexes in the Community of Madrid. Its significance lies not only in its historical, artistic, economic, and cultural weight but also in the privilege of being the oldest monastery in the Community and the only one of the Cistercian order.
The communication axes were articulated around it, and the primitive communities that would be the embryo of the definitive repopulation of this part of the region were settled. Within its walls, nine centuries of history await us, reflected in imposing architecture whose styles (Mozarabic, Romanesque-Mudéjar, Cistercian Romanesque, Isabelline Gothic, Escurial Renaissance, and Baroque) bear witness to the passage of time.

Weekend 2. Distance: 42 km.

Hermitage of Santiago

Declared an Asset of Cultural Interest in the category of Historic Site in 2018

View location

Buitrago del Lozoya

Castle and walls

Declared a Historic-Artistic Complex and Asset of Cultural Interest in 1993

The Marquis of Santillana, who ordered the Alcázar de los Mendoza to be built in Buitrago del Lozoya in the 15th century, was one of the many enemies of D. Álvaro de Luna, lord of the Castillo de la Coracera in San Martín de Valdeiglesias. Within its walls, Juana “la Beltraneja” and her mother Juana of Portugal found refuge, as the powerful Mendoza family had always supported their faction.
The remains of the old alcázar are surrounded by one of the best-preserved walled enclosures in the Community of Madrid. A 800-meter route along walls full of history, with impressive views of the meanders of the Lozoya River.

Weekend 3. Distance: 11 km.

Church of Santa María Magdalena

Declared an Asset of Cultural Interest in the category of historic monument in 1983

In the 15th century, Torrelaguna’s period of greatest splendor, the church of Santa María Magdalena was built. It is a beautiful example of Madrid’s Flemish Gothic style and the resting place of the poet Juan de Mena. “Happy homeland, good fortune, hiding place of death, here fell by chance, the poet Juan de Mena”.

His great friend and admirer, the Marquis of Santillana, dedicated these verses to him on his tombstone, as Juan de Mena had the misfortune of dying in 1456 in Torrelaguna in an unfortunate equestrian accident while on his way to spend time at the Mendoza alcázar in Buitrago del Lozoya. It is believed that the poet, author of verses like these, died on the street that bears his name:

Your eyes, which looked
with such discreet gaze,
wounded and left nothing
in me to kill

Torrelaguna was the birthplace in 1436 of what would become another of the decisive figures in our 16th-century history: Cardinal Cisneros. A man who governed the Crown of Castile on two occasions due to the incapacity of Queen Juana. Between 1506 and 1507, he presided over the Regency Council that assumed the Castilian government after the death of King Felipe el Hermoso, awaiting the arrival of Fernando el Católico. Between 1516 and 1517, he again assumed government after the death of King Fernando and while awaiting Carlos I.

Talamanca de Jarama

Santorcaz

Church of San Torcuato and the Castle of Torremocha

The main monument of Santorcaz is the complex formed by the church and the remains of the Castle of Torremocha, a fortress with a rich history to tell. It is suggested that the Templars built it, and sources also claim that within its walls were imprisoned Cardinal Cisneros, when he was not yet involved in state affairs; the King of France, Francis I (prisoner of Charles I after the Battle of Pavia in 1525); the Princess of Éboli, that enigmatic lady of Philip II’s court; and Rodrigo Calderón, Marquis of Sieteiglesias, who was executed with great dignity in Madrid’s Plaza Mayor.

Villarejo de Salvanés

Keep Tower and Casa de la Tercia

Declared an Asset of Cultural Interest with the category of Archaeological Zone in 1992

Don Álvaro de Luna was Master of the Order of Santiago, and in Villarejo de Salvanés, you can visit the castle of this military order that was in charge of the Greater Encomienda of Castile. From the top of the Keep Tower, you will understand why this powerful order established its headquarters in Villarejo de Salvanés, as from its heights, the passage between the two Castiles is dominated, and a unique landscape of the Community of Madrid can be seen. The origin of Villarejo de Salvanés arose around this fortress when, in the mid-13th century, the Military Order of Santiago promoted the creation of a new settlement located around an old watchtower with the intention of reinforcing it.

King Enrique IV, brother of Isabella the Catholic, also lived in this Keep Tower. It was here that the marriage negotiations for Princess Isabel with Alfonso V of Portugal took place. Also visit the Casa de la Tercia, which was the property and administrative center of the Greater Encomienda of Castile. It stored and processed one-third of the tributes received, intended for the Commander of the Order of Santiago himself, which is where its name «Tercia» (third) comes from. Today, it houses an interesting Ethnographic Museum.