Village
Municipality of the comarca of Campo de Calatrava, in the province of Ciudad Real, head of the Calatrava lordship where Alfonso X convened the Cortes in 1273 and which came to act as capital of the province of La Mancha before receiving from Charles IV the title of city in 1796. Its centre, declared a historic-artistic ensemble in 1972, revolves around an arcaded Plaza Mayor of two superimposed galleries with green joinery and leaded glass, and preserves the Corral de Comedias, a seventeenth-century theatre held to be the only complete one of its period in Spain; its pickled aubergines are covered by a protected geographical indication.
Monument
Theatre located on the Plaza Mayor of Almagro, considered the only corral de comedias from the 17th century preserved intact in Spain, comparable in that respect to the English Elizabethan theatres. It was built in 1628 by extending what was known as the Mesón del Toro, the work of the cleric Leonardo de Oviedo, and hosted its first documented performance in 1629, by the company of Juan Martínez. In the 18th century, once corrales were banned, it became the Mesón de la Fruta and later, from the mid-19th century, the Posada de las Comedias. In 1950, during building works, a hand-painted deck of cards from the early 18th century turned up, a find that led to the rediscovery of the original stage, almost intact; once restored, it reopened in 1952. It was declared a Monumento Nacional (a heritage-protection designation) on 4 March 1955 and remains in use as a stage.
Monument
The Plaza Mayor of Almagro has a medieval origin, but was transformed in the 16th century with the arrival of the Fúcar, German bankers -a Castilianisation of Fugger- who leased the mercury mines of Almadén from Charles V: it is to them that the construction of the glazed galleries that ennoble its two longer sides is owed. Of irregular rectangular plan, it has borne different names -Constitución, República, Real or España- and was restored, until 1967, by the architect Francisco Pons-Sorolla. On one of its shorter sides stands the town hall, with an ashlar façade and a five-bay balcony, crowned by a tower with a wrought-iron clock from 1798 from the convento de Santa Catalina. Arcaded and with green woodwork, it is Almagro's most recognisable image.
Monument
The National Theatre Museum occupies the Palacios de los Maestres de Calatrava, in Almagro (Ciudad Real), a medieval residence of the Orden de Calatrava later converted into a cavalry barracks and restored by the architect Horacio Fernández del Castillo. The institution was created in 1919 as the Museo-Archivo Teatral on the initiative of the minister José del Prado Palacio; its present premises, with more than 2,200 square metres spread over three floors and a Mudéjar cloister, were opened in 2004 by the King and Queen of Spain. It brings together more than 8,000 works on paper, including stage designs, costume figurines and drawings, as well as paintings, sculptures, more than 25,000 photographs dating from 1870, and a collection of more than 2,000 stage costumes dating from the late 18th century.
Monument
Former trading house of the German bankers Fugger, or Fúcares, who exploited the mercury mines of Almadén and the grain rents of the Maestrazgos, today a cultural venue in Almagro. Erected in the 16th century, it has a façade of brick rammed-earth and rubble masonry and is arranged around a square Renaissance-style patio, with two galleries of brick arches on limestone columns: round arches on the ground floor and three-centred basket arches on the upper one. The entrance hall and the convent-type staircase stand out, decorated with plasterwork. Today it is the seat of the Universidad Popular de Almagro and the venue for the Festival Internacional de Teatro Clásico.
Monument
Convent located in the town of Almagro (Ciudad Real), whose construction dates back to the 16th century. It preserves a notable two-storey cloister, one of the finest examples of Renaissance architecture in the province. The building was declared a monumento histórico-artístico (an earlier heritage-protection designation) belonging to the Tesoro Artístico Nacional (a heritage category of the period) on 3 June 1931, during the Second Republic, by a decree published the following day in the Gaceta de Madrid, signed by the president of the provisional government, Niceto Alcalá-Zamora, and by the minister of Public Education and Fine Arts, Marcelino Domingo.
Monument
Museum devoted to bobbin lace in Almagro (Ciudad Real), located in the Callejón Villar and opened on 12 June 2004. It brings together collections of picaos, laces and blondes made in the town and its district. The craft lace industry became established in the 19th century, following the economic boost given in the 18th by the conde de Valdeparaíso, who created a textile industry that organised the production of blondes and laces in the town.
Activity
The Festival Internacional de Teatro Clásico de Almagro has brought together, every July since 1978, Golden Age theatre in the Corral de Comedias and other performance spaces of the town in La Mancha. It is considered the most important event in the world devoted to 16th- and 17th-century theatre, both eastern and western: born around the Spanish classics, it has over time broadened its programme to include authors of English Elizabethan theatre and French Baroque theatre, as well as other performing arts. National and international companies present theatre, music and dance performances over around 25 days, alongside exhibitions, workshops, discussions and parallel events organised by the Fundación del Festival.
Curiosity
A traditional pickle covered by a protected geographical indication, made with small aubergines dressed with fennel, garlic and paprika. It is the product most closely identified with Almagro.
Curiosity
Almagro was declared a historic-artistic ensemble in 1972 and in 2015 joined the association of Los Pueblos Más Bonitos de España, recognition of a town centre shaped by the Order of Calatrava and by European bankers.
Historical milestone
Alfonso X convened the Cortes in Almagro in 1273, a sign of the weight the town had reached as head of the Calatrava lordship barely sixty years after receiving its fuero from the hands of Master Gonzalo Yáñez.
Historical milestone
For eleven years Almagro served as capital of the province of La Mancha, before the seat was moved to Ciudad Real. It was the last episode of its hegemony, crowned in 1796 with the title of city from Charles IV.