Logbook · 9 places

What to see and do in Aldea del Rey

What to see and do in Aldea del Rey (Campo de Calatrava, Ciudad Real): 9 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 4 Monuments · 1 Nature · 1 Activities · 1 Historical milestones · 1 Food and drink

How far each place is from the centre of Aldea del Rey

Palace of la Clavería 550 m

Towns near Aldea del Rey

Spain › Castilla-La Mancha › Ciudad Real › Campo de Calatrava › Aldea del Rey

What to see and do in Aldea del Rey

Aldea del Rey
Village
Municipality of the comarca of Campo de Calatrava, in the province of Ciudad Real, in whose district stands the Sacred Convent and Castle of Calatrava la Nueva, seat of the Order of Calatrava since 1217, perched on the Alacranejo hill facing the castle of Salvatierra. It also preserves the palace of la Clavería, founded by Philip II to house the order's key-bearers, and the fourteenth-century chapel of Nuestra Señora del Valle, the local patroness; the river Jabalón crosses the district between rockrose scrub, thyme thickets and holm-oak woods.
Sacred Convent and Castle of Calatrava la Nueva
Monument
The Sacro Convento y Castillo de Calatrava la Nueva crowns the cerro del Alacranejo, at 936 metres above sea level, within the municipal boundary of Aldea del Rey (Ciudad Real), facing the neighbouring castle of Salvatierra, whose loss to Muslim forces in 1211 reinforced its strategic importance. The Calatravan knights built it between 1213 and 1217, after the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, employing as labour a large part of the prisoners taken in it, to replace the old Calatrava la Vieja as the seat of the Orden de Calatrava. With 46,000 square metres, the complex brings together castle, church and convent on what is known as the castillo de Dueñas, granted to the Order in 1191. Abandoned after the disentailment of Mendizábal, it was declared a monumento histórico-artístico (an earlier heritage-protection designation) on 3 June 1931.
Palace of la Clavería
Monument
The palacio de la Clavería, also called palacio Norte, is a 16th-century Renaissance building with 17th-century elements, located on the outskirts of Aldea del Rey (Ciudad Real), on the edge of the town centre. It was founded by Felipe II to house the clavero of the Orden de Calatrava, in charge of guarding the keys of the castle-convent. The building, of two storeys with a patio with Tuscan columns, has on its brick and ashlar façade a doorway crowned by a triangular pediment with four coats of arms, among them that of Fernando de Córdoba, clavero of the order. Declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection), monument category, in 1992, it is in a critical state of neglect, with its roof collapsed, and for that reason appears on the Lista Roja del Patrimonio of Hispania Nostra.
Hermitage of Nuestra Señora del Valle de Aldea del Rey
Monument
A 14th-century hermitage dedicated to the patron saint of Aldea del Rey, whose feast day is celebrated on 8 September.
Church of San Jorge Mártir
Monument
The church of San Jorge Mártir of Aldea del Rey, a 19th-century parish temple dedicated to the town's patron saint, is the centre of the patronal festivities held on the last weekend of April in honour of this saint.
Holy Week of Aldea del Rey
Activity
The Semana Santa processions of Aldea del Rey, declared a Festival of National Tourist Interest.
The Jabalón valley in Aldea del Rey
Nature
The River Jabalón crosses the municipal district of Aldea del Rey among cistus and thyme scrub and holm oak woods, with the dry, hot summers and cold winters characteristic of the Manchegan interior.
El traslado de la sede a Calatrava la Nueva
Historical milestone
After Las Navas de Tolosa, the order abandoned its old fortress beside the Guadiana and fixed in 1217 its definitive seat on the crag of Salvatierra, higher and more defensible; there it raised the sacred convent that governed the Campo de Calatrava for centuries.
El aceite de oliva Campo de Calatrava
Food and drink
Campo de Calatrava oil is a protected designation of origin for extra virgin olive oils made exclusively from olives of the cornicabra and picual varieties, grown in olive groves set on the volcanic soils of the region. Its production area covers the center of the province of Ciudad Real, with seventeen municipalities including Aldea del Rey, as well as Almagro, Bolaños de Calatrava, seat of the regulatory council, Calzada de Calatrava, Miguelturra and the provincial capital itself, Ciudad Real. The result is a medium-bitterness extra virgin oil with notes of green leaf and bitter almond.