On Tuesday I went to Alcalá de Hernares, a city of around 200,000 people located twenty two miles to the northeast of Madrid. Alcalá is very well connected by train service to Madrid (it's a thirty minute train ride), and a large portion of its population are commuters who work in the capital. Much of the city is made up of nondescript, modern apartment buildings, but Alcalá's historic center earned the city the designation of "World Heritage Site" by UNESCO.
The recorded history of Alcalá de Hernares goes back to Roman times when the town was known as Complutum. The city has two great claims to fame. It was the birthplace of Spain's most celebrated writer, Miguel de Cervantes, the author of the novel "Don Quixote". On the main street in the old heart of the city is the house where he was born in 1547. Today it is a small museum and is open to the public free of charge.
Although none of the furnishings in the house actually belonged to the Cervantes family, the museum is filled with antiques from the era. It gives you an idea of what life was like for a middle class family of those days. Cervantes's father was an apothecary and surgeon, and the home seems relatively comfortable.
Outside of the museum are statues of Cervantes's great literary creations... Don Quixote, the addled country gentleman who imagines himself a knight in shining armor, and Sancho Panza, the down-to-earth peasant who served as Quixote's squire.
Facing the town square of Alcalá is the former church of Santa María where Cervantes was baptized. The building today houses displays on the life and literary production of the author. In one chapel, the baptismal font and the baptismal record of Cervantes are on display.
Alcalá de Hernares's second claim to fame was the great university that was located here. Founded in 1293, the "Universidad Complutense", was one of the oldest in Europe. In the early 16th century, under the patronage of Cardinal Cisneros (perhaps the most influential clerics in all of Spanish history), the University became one of the most important centers of learning in Renaissance Europe.
The principal building of the University was the "Colegio Mayor de San Ildefonso". It is considered one of the finest works of Spanish Renaissance architecture.
Throughout the heart of the city are many other fine Renaissance buildings which were "colegios" run by different monastic orders and offering different courses of study. These buildings comprised one of the earliest examples of what we would today call a university campus.
With the decline in Spain's fortunes, the prestige of the University also declined. However, it is noteworthy that in 1785, the University was one of the first in the world to grant a doctorate to a woman student. In 1836 the University was transferred to Madrid and became the "Universidad Complutense de Madrid." In 1977 a new University of Alcalá was founded, and the old university buildings have been put to use again.
The Gothic cathedral of Alcalá de Hernares was built between 1497 and 1514. In the crypt of the cathedral is a silver reliquary containing the remains of city's patron saints, St. Justo and St. Pastor. They are referred to as "los santos niños"... the holy children. They were two schoolchildren in the Roman city of Complutum who were executed for their Christian beliefs.
It is said that in the archbishop's palace of Alcalá Christopher Columbus had his first audience with Queen Isabella.
"Calle Mayor" (Main Street), which runs through the historic center of the city, has the longest portico of any street in Spain.
There are many historic cities near Madrid that make excellent day excursions from the capital. The most popular with tourists are Toledo and Segovia. But the historic and picturesque city of Alcalá de Hernares is definitely worthy of a visit!
Thank you - Very Interesting-My wife's maiden name is Alcala.
ReplyDeleteWell, perhaps you two could take a trip to Spain and visit Alcalá!
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