Madrid makes its way by walking: Buitrago del Lozoya

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The medieval arch hides a golden vision

Today I want to invite you to get to know something more about Madrid, although moving away about 80 kilometers, approximately, from that Puerta del Sol and that emblematic Barrio de los Austrias where world travelers meet, at least once in their life, as I would say. the writer Juan Eslava Galán.

Square next to the Torre Albarrana

It is the same writer, who considers Buitrago del Lozoya, the place that I intend to show you today, as one of those thousand places to see in Spain, at least once in a lifetime.

Traditional architecture next to the wall

Well, imagine that we are already outside the capital and that in front of us, competing with the horizon line, we see an imposing backbone cut out in the distance, formed by rocks as old as the world.

Medieval arch: an incomparable setting

It is the Sierra de Guadarrama, a place that, due to its shape, was known in the Middle Ages with the poetic and at the same time symbolic name of the Sierra del Dragon and that could be added, in addition, that it constitutes the limit in which these two Castiles separate : the Old, the one that clings eternally to León and the New, the one that looks gently at La Mancha, the land of the mills and the immortal knight Don Quixote de la Mancha.

Gothic church of Santa María del Castillo, 14th century

They will have noticed, during the journey, those infinite extensions of meadow, whose grass, lovingly fattened by the winter snows and the fresh dews of the freezing dawn, is vital for the sustenance of a livestock that has a deserved reputation for quality.

Overview of the imposing medieval walls that surrounded the city

Buitrago, strategically located on the banks of the Lozoya River, the main source of that fine and qualitative water that has supplied the capital since the dawn of time, is another of those towns where it seems that time has stopped inevitably, leaving, in the mood of the traveler, the curious sensation of taking a walk through those medieval times of the twelfth century, when King Alfonso VI reconquered it and repopulated it, while he continued his campaign towards Muslim Magerit (Madrid) and beyond, he looked with irrepressible eagerness to that other capital of forgotten empires, as the German poet Rilke defined Toledo.

Next to the walls a legendary element: the chariot

These sensations are much more evident, even when it is observed that there is still a good part of the old medieval walls that surrounded the town, although the time, which after all is surprisingly vain, was not so generous with the castle, where the first Marquis of Santillana settled, Mr. Íñigo López de Mendoza, whose noble coat of arms was recorded in numerous places, such as that beautiful city of Guadalajara, where he is also remembered every time that beautiful Gothic jewel is visited , which is the Palacio del Infantado.

The Lozoya river caresses part of the medieval walls

Through the medieval arches that surround Buitrago, the previously described impression of having crossed the borders of time, is accentuated by the vision of that old jewel of Castilian Gothic, which is its church of Santa María del Castillo, named precisely that way, for be next to it, sheltered by some walls that extend through the town, always on the banks of that river, the Lozoya, whose icy waters seem like a mirror in which you can see not only the old stone bridge, through which you enter and leave the city, but rather the houses around it and even that moon, flirtatious like few others, every time it rises above the nearby peaks of the mountains.

Another of the old medieval gates, on the banks of the Lozoya river

A mountain range and peaks, which are usually eternally accompanied by ice and snow, which even gives it an extremely charming appearance, regardless of the time in which it is visited or from the distance or the proximity of the many mountain villages that, as in the case of Buitrago, they surround it.

Medieval gate

The architecture, traditional and period, has also suffered its consequent variations over the years and in some cases, it could be said that the new contrasts remarkably with that typical traditional, mountain and certainly artisan architecture, which also characterizes the towns of the region.

More traditional architecture

From the surroundings, it is convenient to let yourself be carried away by the charm of the pine and oak forests, which also surround the population, in whose soil, a thousand and one aromas lead the visitor to also dream of those aromatic grandmother remedies, whose natural ingredients They bear names such as peppermint, verbena, thyme and rockrose and that are not only part of the traditional food accessories, but also of that popular pharmacy of remedies that have always fought numerous diseases.

A glimpse of the snow-capped peaks of the Sierra de Guadarrama, seen from the walls of the Arrabal

In Buitrago the so-called Arcipreste de Hita route begins, or ends, depending on how you look at it, which runs through the most diverse and picturesque of the Lozoya valley and the mountain ports that surround it.

Gate of the Arrabal

In short: Buitrago del Lozoya, a place where you can allow yourself the luxury of letting your senses speak, enjoying the quality of mountain products and expanding your spirit with the best aromas of Nature.

A mirage of beauty

Small Photographic Album of Buitrago:

Panoramic: Gate and walls of the Arrabal Lozoya River: a mirror The old stone bridge Fisherman in the Lozoya river Another mirage: the little houses on the banks of the Lozoya river Typical houses Clothes hanging in the sun Towards Main Street

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NOTICE: Both the text and the photographs that accompany it, as well as the video that illustrates it, are my exclusive intellectual property and therefore, are subject to my Copyright.

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