Tourist Attractions in Alcalá de Henares, Spain

Alcalá de Henares, Spain. Photo: Emilio J. Rodríguez Posada/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Alcalá is easily visited as a day-trip from Madrid, and because it's so close to Madrid Barajas Airport it makes a good first or last night stop on a tour of northern Spain. The heart of the old town is Plaza de Cervantes, with all the main sights close by, and storks nests teetering on the rooftops. North side of the Plaza leads into the colonnaded Calle Mayor, with many bars and eating places.

• La Universidad de Alcalá. Daily 09:00-16:00. Founded in 1499 by Cardinal Cisneros, and the centre of academic excellence in Spain in the 16th and 17th centuries. Visit by guided tour only, hourly in Spanish, in English at 14:00. The tour takes in the ornate plateresque façade, the three interior patios, the mudejar chapel, and the Paraninfo auditorium where the Cervantes Literary Prize is presented by the King annually on April 23. Adult €6, concessions €4.

Universidad de Alcalá. Photo: Zarateman/Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

• Casa Natal de Cervantes (Cervantes birthplace), Calle Mayor 48. Tu-Su 10:00-18:00. This is the house where the famous author of El Ingenioso Hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha was born in 1547, and lived his early days. The museum recreates life in a Spanish house of that period, though perhaps a more stable, prosperous household than Cervantes' own. His father was a barber-surgeon, so the old shaving & blood-letting bowl foretells Don Quixote's mad helmet. The book was widely translated soon after Part One was published in 1605, and there's an impressive collection of translations and other books and manuscripts from around the world. Free admission but to avoid overcrowding they only let in a dozen or so at a time, so there may be a queue.

Casa Natal de Cervantes. Photo: Emilio J. Rodríguez Posada/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

• Next to the Casa Natal, the Hospital de Antezana is a 15th C charity hospital, probably the oldest in Europe in continuous use. Nowadays it's a care home for the elderly.

• The Cathedral or Lonja de la Magistral was originally 15th C, but rebuilt after fire damage in 1939. It's called a "magisterial" cathedral because its clerics were all masters, ie graduate teachers of the university. Contains the Cripta de los Santos Niños, the tomb of persecuted Catholic children. Open M-F 08:00-14:00 & 16:00-20:30, Sa Su 09:00-13:00 & 18:00-20:30.

Catedral de Alcalá de Henares. Photo: Ricardo Ricote Rodrí/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

• Archbishop's Palace: built as a fortress in the 14-15th century, turned into an episcopal palace in the 16th century, but much of it burnt down in 1939 during the Civil War. It saw the birth of England's Katherine of Aragón and Germany's Emperor Ferdinand, the death of John I of Castille, and the first interview where Christopher Columbus pitched his idea to Queen Isabel of sailing west to reach India. You can't visit the interior.

However the interview room is recreated, along with other exhibitions, in the nearby House of the Interview (Casa de la Entrevista, Calle San Juan 2). The building was a 16th-century convent for Franciscan nuns. Open Tu-Sa 11:00-14:00 & 17:00-20:00, Su 11:00-14:00.

Archbishop's Palace. Photo: Richard Mortel/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

• Archaeological Museum: housed in the 17th C Madre de Dios monastery-college on Plaza de las Bernadas. Prehistoric and Roman finds from the area. Open Tu-Sa 11:00-19:00, Su 11:00-15:00.

Archaeological Museum. Photo: M.Peinado/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

• Other Roman ruins are the House of Hippolytus, west end of town by Av de Madrid, probably a 3rd- or 4th-century college, with well preserved mosaics (Open Tu-Su 10:00-14:00, and Sa Su 17:00-20:00). 500 m south off Camino del Juncal is the Complutum, near the fragmentary remains of the Moorish fortress of Al Qalat (Open Tu-Su 10:00-14:00 & 16:00-18:00). (Wikivoyage)

See also Alcalá de Henares in Pictures

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

Litomyšl Castle, Czech Republic

Litomyšl Castle is an outstanding and immaculately preserved example of the arcade castle, a type of building first developed in Italy and modified in the Czech lands to create an evolved form of special architectural quality.

Þingvellir National Park, Iceland

Þingvellir National Park is a national park in South Iceland and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Vallø Castle, Denmark

Vallø Castle is a manor house located 7 km south of Køge, in Stevns Municipality, on the island of Zealand in Denmark. It now serves as a residence for Vallø stift, a home for unmarried, widowed and divorced women of noble descent.

Banff National Park, Canada

Banff National Park is in the Alberta Rockies region of Alberta, Canada. Together with six other national parks it makes up the UNESCO World Heritage site "Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks".

St. Peter and Paul Cathedral Naumburg, Germany

Naumburg Cathedral is the former cathedral of the Bishopric of Naumburg-Zeitz. The church building, most of which dates back to the 13th century, is a renowned landmark of the German late Romanesque and has been recognised as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018.

Mount Wuyi, China

Mount Wuyi is a very popular scenic area in Nanping prefecture, Fujian Province, China.