Manzanares el Real, discovering the city of the two castles
It seemed that the snow did not want to leave Madrid. But it is history, fundamentally, because it has been able to paralyze the entire Autonomous Community by giving away film images. After the storm, the villages of the Sierra de Madrid they recover the greenery of always, a call that the people of Madrid cannot avoid every time the weekend arrives. One of the favorite destinations in the capital is Manzanares the Real.
To get there, you have to approach the edge of the mighty Sierra de Guadarrama . The town opens its doors to the traveler under the watchful eye of one of the best preserved castles in all of Spain.
THE CITY OF TWO CASTLES
As it cannot be otherwise, the best way to get the most out of Manzanares el Real is to start the route from the castle, a magnificent renaissance construction without wall (since its purpose was residential). Date of year 1500 approximately and although it belongs to the Dukes of the Infantry can be visited. Inside we find your parade ground, the Juan Guas gallery and the Hermitage of Nuestra Señora de la Nava . This last one was the main temple of the town but the duke appropriated it as a private chapel when he built the castle.
In Manzanares el Real there was a second castle of Mudejar style before the current one and of which a few ruins are preserved . Probably this castle was "disassembled" to build the new one, or that is the explanation that Morgana Alonso, Manzanares Patrimony technician details Traveler.es . It points to the probability that it was Alfonso XI the king who commanded to build this castle original in the mid-fourteenth century but it is just a hypothesis. In one way or another, it possibly enabled the construction of the new castle of the Mendoza which today is one of the architectural jewels of the Community of Madrid.
The enviable environment of Manzanares el Real
Leaving the castle, you have to enter the town center where the Hostel , old paper dryer of the First Continuous Paper Mill in Spain and hostelry for the directors of the factory (today converted into flats inside). It was made up of different buildings: woodshed, mills, inn, coal cellar and workers' houses, all of them built at the beginning of the 19th century.
The town had seven mills, three of which were used for the paper mill. Two are preserved: La Tuerta and Los Frailes mills . The former was partly converted as a private residence; the second is a site still under excavation that can be visited. Turning the view, across the Calle Real, we find the Church of Our Lady of the Snows , contemporary to the Mendoza castle. In the Renaissance style, it brings together elements of Toledo Gothic and houses wall paintings from the 16th century and a cemetery that preserves thousand-year-old tombstones, nothing more and nothing less.
passing the avenue of the Pedriza you arrive to the Navazuela street to the right , where is the Ulloa Factory and the Captaincy General . Here appeared the first glasses factory that will build what is now Ulloa Óptica , around 1940. Although it cannot be visited, it is known that still has the machinery . Morgana tells us that the first saddles were made with deer and roe deer antlers or with cow hooves . Then came the time of mounts made with celluloid and from the 1960s those made of plastic. "In the Museum we have some molds of glasses from the mid-20th century that the family gave us as a sample," adds Morgana, out of curiosity.
Interior of the castle of Mendoza, in Manzanares el Real
From there you have to take the Glen of the Bulls to find ourselves with a natural passage through the banks of the Manzanares river that goes down to the bridge that enters the Molino de los Frailes and from there you have to go back down to the town center through the Peña Sacra road street to get to the Old Castle and the Old Bridge, the perfect time to look for a good place to eat and gather strength for the second day.
MYSTICISM AND CELTIC CULTURE
Before the light goes out, the ideal is to enter the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park , green lung of Madrid that hides a thousand stories. walking through the Path of the Peña Sacra You have to go up until you reach the hermitage that has the same name. The Peña Sacra hermitage dates back to at least the 15th century and was built with granite ashlars and has an incredible flamboyant granite and brick vault. It is located on a huge rock and the views from the top of the Guadarrama Park are spectacular, drawing The Pedriza and the Helm perfectly on the horizon.
Balcony of the castle of the Mendoza
Alonso tells us curiosities about the place: "It is said that the area of the hermitage was a Druidic area where Celtic rites were performed as it was considered a magical, mystical place . In the XIX century, Bernaldo De Quirós assured that at the end of that same century these rites were still performed ”. In truth, this place gives a certain “repelús”, as if the same rocks whispered among the remains of cists that possibly served to carry out the Celtic rituals of passage to maturity.
STOP ON THE ROAD
Most of the overnight accommodations are outside the town. That is why the ideal option to spend the night in Manzanares el Real is in the hotel which is located within urban area and so you don't have to move too much . It also has a kitchen concept with a contemporary air that includes vegan options.
In Manzanares you eat meat from the land and there are several places for those who want to opt for traditional home cooking. With this temperature, a good stew enters Goyo House (Pza. Sagrado Corazón, 1), where, if the sun allows it, you can enjoy some wines on the terrace. A very good option to eat luxury is the Parra Restaurant (Bakers, 13), for its rice with shrimp or its incredible beef tenderloin from the Sierra de Guadarrama.
Manzanares has also become a lot veganized, as a result of the comings and goings of tourists from the capital who are reluctant to flee from this trend. The Variable (St. Teresa, 10) offers ecological wonders of the seasonal garden with some carnivorous options to always hit everyone's taste . It is one of the most chic options in the place.
The Variable, in Manzanares el Real
BONUS TRACK FOR THE CURIOUS
Many movies have been shot in Manzanares (the first was shot in the mid-1930s). But, curiously, it was not the Castle that caught the attention of the filmmakers, but the natural environment of the place. Films such as Conan the barbarian, The 10 Commandments, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly either For a bunch of dollars.
Mr. Colás had a bar next to the church that was the only bar in town. Filmmakers used to go to that bar and became the base camp to locate. Thus, they discovered the Jaralón area in the north of the town. Colás became the "manager" of Manzanares el Real for more than 50 years. Thanks to him and the orography of the town, more than 300 titles have been shot turning Manzanares into a benchmark in western and roman movies.
The Mendozas (15th century)
Cardinal Mendoza had two of his unrecognized children in the Old Castle . It can be said that it was an open secret but a State silence.
It is said that the castle of Manzanares el Real has a ghost, the one from Maricantina . Some legends suggest that she was a shepherdess who died of lack of love. Today La Maricantina is still in the popular imagination , scaring children and - who knows? - if wandering through the parade ground.
Hemingway or Einstein They have been some of the celebrities that have been seen in Manzanares el Real throughout its history.
In the Hermitage of Peña Sacra is the refuge for pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago de Madrid . The name of the hermitage is completely pagan, without virgins or saints. Very close to here there are several archaeological sites from prehistoric times.