Madrigal de las Altas Torres: Holiday apartment between culture, nature and wine

Madrigal de las Altas Torres is designated as a Cultural Heritage Site of special interest (Bien de Interés Cultural) in the category of Historic Complex. The town lies on the plain of Tierra de Arévalo, south of the Duero between the Trabancos and Zapardiel rivers.

When comparing holiday apartments in Madrigal de las Altas Torres, you can compare travel dates, room category and cancellation conditions in particular on accommodation listing pages. These three details provide a clear basis before you turn to the town’s historical, scenic and wine-related themes.

Culture and history

Isabel la Católica was born on April 22, 1451, in the former Royal Palace of Don Juan II. The former Royal Palace of Don Juan II is now used by the Nuestra Señora de Gracia convent.

The city walls of Madrigal de las Altas Torres are a defensive fortification that encloses the entire town center. The best-preserved section lies between the gates of Arévalo and Peñaranda.

The Church of San Nicolás de Bari is a Romanesque-Mudéjar building constructed in the 13th century and remodeled in the 15th century. Its bell tower is 65 meters high. The church also contains a baptismal font associated with the baptism of Isabel la Católica.

The Arco de Piedra on Calle de El Oro is a granite example of Abulensian Plateresque architecture. The Royal Hospital of the Immaculate Conception was built in 1443 at the instigation of Doña María de Aragón, the first wife of King Juan II, and served as a hospital for poor and sick people.

Outside the city walls lies the San Agustín convent, founded in 1353 as a convent for nuns with ties to the court. The Sinagoga de Madrigal de las Altas Torres is considered a possible former synagogue building; the large house in the upper part of the town has well-preserved walls. In the Church of Santa María del Castillo, Romanesque frescoes depicting the Pantocrator were discovered behind the altarpiece.

Nature and landscape

The cereal plain of Madrigal is considered the most ecologically valuable ecosystem in the surrounding area and is home to bird species with the highest level of protection worldwide, including the great bustard and little bustard.

Madrigal’s Nature Interpretation Center is primarily dedicated to the bird diversity of La Moraña, especially the lesser kestrel. It offers explanatory panels, models of the cereal steppe landscape and audiovisual materials.

Wine tradition

The Bodega de los Frailes is a monumental wine cellar built in 1732 above an already existing cellar. The oldest documented section of the cellar may date from the 15th or 16th century.

The Verdejo grape variety was historically already referred to in the 15th and 16th centuries as „cepa de Madrigal“; corresponding references date back to 1374.

Madrigal continues to have a wine culture that is present in almost every house as well as in the local wine-growing and cellar tradition.

Other places

Pozanco, Higuera De Las Dueñas, Adanero, Salobral, El Fresno, Herreros De Suso, San Juan de la Encinilla, La Serrada

Sightseeing and annual cycle

Madrigal Medieval has been held in Madrigal on the first weekend of August since 2008 and includes a medieval market. The municipal tourism information office in Madrigal advises visitors on various sightseeing options focusing on monuments, nature, palaces, cellars, legends and anecdotes.

For the higher-level travel overview: Avila.