The best walks and hikes around Fuentidueña De Tajo

For its tower, which is worth visiting, and its tree-lined plaza where you can relax in the shade.

The current town of Villamanrique de Tajo emerged in the 15th century under the protection of the old fortress of Albuher, which was one of the castles and strongholds built in the 10th century by the Arabs during the rule of the Caliphate of Córdoba on the border of the Tagus River. The hamlet has a rural and peasant character, with linear streets and white facades in the great plain of the Tagus River, and is made up of the town centre itself and the agricultural centres of Buenamesón and Castillo de Tajo. The social centre is the Plaza de la Constitución, where the Town Hall is located, and the starting point of several hiking routes.

The Peirones de Santa María mark a change of atmosphere, the path descends from the olive groves and runs along some slopes populated by large esparto vines until it connects with the ancient Vía del Esparto, a primitive Roman road that ran through the centre of the peninsula and was used to transport esparto products and other products from the Las Vegas region to the markets of the city of Madrid.

This is the name given to the remains of a medieval sanctuary from the High Middle Ages built opposite the Santa María site, isolated on a hill with a magnificent view of the San Pedro valley. The old church had two naves and due to the size of the complex and its location it could have served as a fortress and a surveillance post.

The ruins of the ancient settlement of Santa María are on a barren hill among the olive groves of Villarejo de Salvanés. It was a Carpetanian fort and was inhabited for four thousand years, in the Bronze Age, until the 13th century, when the inhabitants moved towards the agricultural wasteland where the town is currently located.

The Tower is the icon of Villarejo de Salvanés, it is a unique model of a keep among the constructions of medieval fortresses. Around it there are remains of the walls and rooms that completed the complex of the old castle of the town, occupied for several centuries by the knights of the Order of Santiago. The Plaza de la Constitución concentrates a good part of the monumental Villarejo de Salvanés, opposite the Tower is the church of San Andrés Apóstol, imposing and with tower-shaped buttresses that give a defensive appearance to the building. And one corner is occupied by the Casa de la Tercia, headquarters of the Encomienda Mayor de Castilla and current Ethnographic Museum. An interesting place for fans of the seventh art is the Museo del Cine, the first professional film museum in Spain.

It is a shame that only the keep of the entire walled building is preserved, but it is also fortunate to miss out on enjoying this architectural beauty, whose shape is peculiar and unusual in this type of fortress.

Villamanrique de Tajo is a quiet town in the Madrid region of Las Vegas. Among its places of interest are the ruins of the castle of Alboer or the beautiful river park on the banks of the Tagus.