Logbook · 10 places

What to see and do in Azuqueca de Henares

What to see and do in Azuqueca de Henares (La Campiña, Guadalajara): 10 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 3 Monuments · 2 Nature · 1 Activities · 1 Curiosities · 2 Historical milestones

When to go to Azuqueca de Henares: festival calendar

September: Festivities of la Virgen de la Soledad de Azuqueca (A partir del tercer domingo de septiembre)

How far each place is from the centre of Azuqueca de Henares

Park of la Quebradilla 600 m
Church of Santa Teresa de Jesús de Azuqueca 1 km

Towns near Azuqueca de Henares

What to see in Villanueva de la Torre 3.6 km · 6 places
What to see in Alovera 3.9 km · 5 places
What to see in Quer 4.8 km · 4 places
What to see in Meco 5.1 km · 6 places
What to see in Los Santos de la Humosa 7.1 km · 4 places
What to see in Cabanillas del Campo 8.6 km · 7 places
What to see in Chiloeches 9.1 km · 1 place
What to see in Valdeaveruelo 9.1 km · 4 places

Spain › Castilla-La Mancha › Guadalajara › La Campiña › Azuqueca de Henares

What to see and do in Azuqueca de Henares

Azuqueca de Henares
Village
Municipality of the comarca of La Campiña, in the province of Guadalajara, whose name comes from the Arabic al-zuqayqa, alleyway, and which went from farming hamlet to town in 1628, when the marquesses of Salinas bought it from Philip IV, before becoming the demographic engine of the comarca with the industrialisation of the Henares valley in the 1960s; it preserves an ornithological reserve of twelve hectares beside the river, a church moved stone by stone from Alcorlo, flooded by its reservoir, and festivals of the Virgen de la Soledad declared of Regional Tourist Interest in 2009.
Church of San Miguel de Azuqueca
Monument
The church of San Miguel de Azuqueca de Henares was built in the late 15th or early 16th century, with a Latin-cross plan and a brick bell tower. Its most notable feature is the side loggia in Renaissance style that serves as an atrium, with five depressed semicircular arches, Ionic-order capitals and decorative roundels on the spandrels. The interior, with contemporary altarpieces and paintings, has undergone successive reconstructions throughout its history.
Hermitage of la Soledad de Azuqueca
Monument
Ermita de la Soledad, in Azuqueca de Henares (Guadalajara), in the comarca of la Campiña. It is a large Renaissance hermitage, located beside the road leading to Alovera, and dates from the 17th century. It houses an image of the Virgen de la Soledad carved by Juan Pascual Medina in 1769. Around it lies a park where the town's festive events take place.
Church of Santa Teresa de Jesús de Azuqueca
Monument
The church of Santa Teresa de Jesús, in late Romanesque style, stands in the Asfain neighbourhood of Azuqueca de Henares after being moved stone by stone in the 1980s from Alcorlo, the village flooded by its reservoir, where it had been dedicated to the Divino Salvador. Residents of the newly created Asfain neighbourhood mobilised to rescue the building, and its move, which required permits from the Confederación Hidrográfica del Tajo, the Ministerio de Cultura and the diocese, took place between 1982 and 1987. At the new site a crypt was added, which did not exist in the original temple, to serve as a sacristy, archive and catechism room, blessed in 1984 as the parish of Santa Teresa de Jesús; Bishop Jesús Pla Gandía inaugurated the temple in 1988.
Park of la Quebradilla
Nature
Parque de la Quebradilla, the green lung of Azuqueca de Henares (Guadalajara), with about seven hectares of area located in the south-western part of the town, next to the old Alcalá road. Among its tree species, singular specimens such as the ginkgo biloba and the giant sequoia stand out. Around it the town's fairs and festivities are held.
Ornithological Reserve of Azuqueca
Nature
The reserve occupies an area of ten hectares next to the river Henares, very close to the A-2 motorway, of which its four lagoons together add up to six. These artificial lagoons functioned as municipal treatment plants between 1988 and 2003 before becoming a protected wetland, with an arboretum of tamarisks, alders, ash trees, poplars, willows and elms. It is an important resting area for migratory birds, with more than two hundred species identified, and hosts species-recovery programmes. It was declared in 2004 a Refugio de Fauna y Zona Sensible de Protección Concertada (a wildlife-protection designation of Castilla-La Mancha) by the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha, and it is part of the Inventario Español de Zonas Húmedas (the Spanish inventory of wetlands).
The Arabic name of Azuqueca
Curiosity
The place name comes from the Arabic al-zuqayqa, meaning little street. In 1961 a 2nd-century Roman villa and a Visigothic necropolis were discovered in the municipal district.
Festivities of la Virgen de la Soledad de Azuqueca
Activity
The Festivities of September in Honour of Nuestra Señora la Virgen de la Soledad are the main festivities of Azuqueca de Henares, in the Guadalajara comarca of La Campiña. They are held from the third Sunday of September and last a week; they have carried this name since 1978 and were declared a Fiesta de Interés Turístico Regional (regional festival of tourist interest) on 7 September 2009. Its most notable event is the Sunday float parade, in which the local peñas take part.
The lordship of the Marquises of Salinas
Historical milestone
Until the seventeenth century it was an agricultural village dependent on the council of Guadalajara. In 1628 the marquises of Salinas del Río Pisuerga bought it from Felipe IV, who granted it the title of villa with its own jurisdiction and seigneury over its district.
The Henares industrial corridor
Historical milestone
In the 1960s Madrid's industrial expansion followed the Henares valley and brought factories such as Vicasa to Azuqueca. The town went from a few hundred residents to tens of thousands and became the demographic engine of the countryside.