Village
Municipality of the comarca of La Sagra, in the province of Toledo, which received a fuero from Alfonso VII in 1154, belonged to the lordship of the archbishopric of Toledo until passing to royal jurisdiction in 1575 and was joined by rail to Madrid and Toledo in 1876; its principal monumental complex is the hospital of Nuestra Señora de la Caridad, raised between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, whose shrine preserves five paintings by El Greco, among them The Charity and The Coronation of the Virgin.
Monument
The sanctuary of Nuestra Señora de la Caridad, next to the former Hospital de la Caridad, was built between the 16th and 17th centuries: from 1500 at the initiative of Cardinal Cisneros, who had it built in exchange for permission to set up a convent of Franciscan nuns in Illescas. The original building followed plans by Pedro de Gumiel and was remodelled between 1588 and 1600 by Nicolás de Vergara and his brother Juan. In 1603 El Greco painted the main altarpiece and five paintings of the life of the Virgin for this church, four of which are kept here (one is in the National Museum of Art of Romania, in Bucharest), along with a San Ildefonso. Philip II was devoted to the Virgen de la Caridad, patroness of Illescas, canonically crowned in 1955; the sanctuary remains one of the great centres of devotion in La Sagra.
Curiosity
The sanctuary of Nuestra Señora de la Caridad preserves five paintings by Doménikos Theotokópoulos, El Greco, among them The Charity and The Coronation of the Virgin. It is one of the Cretan painter's groups of works that remains in the place for which it was commissioned.
Monument
The Hospital de Nuestra Señora de la Caridad in Illescas (Toledo), founded around 1500, is linked to the sanctuary of the same name, which Cardinal Cisneros had built in exchange for erecting a convent of Franciscan nuns there. The complex, with plans by Pedro de Gumiel, was remodelled in the 16th century, between 1588 and 1600, by Nicolás de Vergara and his brother Juan. The sanctuary's main altarpiece, by El Greco (1603), is complemented by his canvases on the life of the Virgin, four of which are kept here — one, Los desposorios de la Virgen, is today in Romania — along with his San Ildefonso. Philip II was devoted to the Virgen de la Caridad, patroness of Illescas and crowned in 1955. Its fabric and artistic heritage make it the town's most important monumental ensemble.
Monument
A parish church whose Mudéjar tower was declared Monumento Nacional (a former Spanish heritage-protection designation) in 1920. It is the architectural emblem of Illescas's old town. Dedicated to Santa María de la Asunción, it is one of the few churches, along with that of Santiago del Arrabal in Toledo, that preserve the Muslim-Christian transition, with a basilical plan of three naves and three semicircular apses built between the 13th and 16th centuries. Its five-tiered Mudéjar tower stands out for the variety of its ornamentation, the lobed arches of its windows and the upper arcade on small columns of glazed ceramic, among the finest of the Toledan Mudéjar towers. In the 16th century the main body was transformed into a Gothic nave with star vaults. Today it is a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection).
Monument
The only surviving remnant of the old Puerta de Ugena in Illescas's medieval wall. Of Mudéjar workmanship, it is attributed an origin that could date back to the late 11th or early 12th century, when Alfonso VI ordered the walls to be raised after recovering the town in 1085. That wall had five gates: those of Madrid, Toledo, Talavera, el Sol and Ugena. Over the centuries it suffered damage from conflicts such as Álvaro de Luna's revolts and the Revolt of the Comuneros, and by the 18th century barely any of the original fortification remained. Square in plan, built of brick and masonry, it shows a pointed arch on its north face and a round arch on the south. Its present appearance is the result of a 1995 restoration.
Monument
Convent founded in 1514 on the initiative of Cardinal Cisneros, who maintained a close relationship with Illescas. It forms part of the town's historic religious heritage.
Nature
Celtiberian settlement occupied between the 5th and 2nd centuries BC, excavated in the municipal district of Illescas. Its finds are among the most significant for the protohistory of La Sagra.
Nature
Centuries-old elm in the Plaza de las Cadenas, probably planted at the end of the 16th century and linked to the tradition of the Miracle of Illescas. It is a singular tree integrated into the historic townscape.
Monument
Waterworks from the end of the 19th century, popularly known as the Matajudíos aqueduct, which supplied the town with water. It is a testimony to 19th-century engineering in Illescas.
Monument
A 19th-century bridge located in the area of the town's old tanneries. It preserves the memory of Illescas's traditional tanning trade. The bridge spans the arroyo del Cubo with a single arch, and is built of brick with limestone masonry.
Activity
A commemoration of the miracle attributed to the Virgen de la Caridad, celebrated in Illescas every 11 March with religious and popular events known as the Toro del Milagro. The town also honours the same patroness on 31 August, the feast day of the Virgen de la Caridad.
Activity
Patron saint festival in honour of Nuestra Señora de la Caridad, patron saint of Illescas, held around 31 August.
Curiosity
In 1526 the betrothal of Eleanor of Austria, sister of Charles V, and King Francis I of France was celebrated in Illescas. The poet Garcilaso de la Vega attended the ceremony.
Curiosity
Miguel de Cervantes mentions the morello cherries of Illescas in The Trials of Persiles and Sigismunda. The town also served as the setting for plays by Lope de Vega.
Historical milestone
The place name has been linked to Egelesta, a city that Ptolemy placed in Carpetania in the second century. The proposed evolution runs through Elesta, Elescas and Ilescas to the present form, which points to a settlement earlier than the arrival of Rome.
Historical milestone
Alfonso VI recovered the fortress in 1085 and Alfonso VII granted the town a fuero in 1154, as part of the effort to secure the road between Toledo and the northern meseta. That statute fixed the boundaries and the obligations of the council for centuries.
Historical milestone
Until 1575 the town belonged to the seigneury of the archbishopric of Toledo. That year it passed to royal jurisdiction, a change that altered taxation and the appointment of offices in the busiest place on the road between Madrid and Toledo.
Historical milestone
The first train reached Illescas on 20 June 1876 and connected the town with Madrid and with Toledo. The station was the lever of the industrialisation that, by the nineteen-sixties, sent the municipality's population soaring.