Logbook · 10 places

What to see and do in Orgaz

What to see and do in Orgaz (Montes de Toledo, Toledo): 10 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 5 Monuments · 1 Nature · 1 Activities · 1 Historical milestones · 1 Food and drink

When to go to Orgaz: festival calendar

May: Festival of la Primavera de Orgaz (May)

How far each place is from the centre of Orgaz

Castle of Orgaz 150 m
Church of Santo Tomás Apóstol de Orgaz 250 m

Towns near Orgaz

What to see in Villaminaya 7.3 km · 3 places
What to see in Manzaneque 7.4 km · 3 places
What to see in Los Yébenes 7.6 km · 10 places
What to see in Sonseca 9.3 km · 9 places
What to see in Mascaraque 9.6 km · 4 places
What to see in Mora 9.8 km · 10 places
What to see in Marjaliza 11 km · 4 places
What to see in Chueca 11 km · 3 places

Spain › Castilla-La Mancha › Toledo › Montes de Toledo › Orgaz

What to see and do in Orgaz

Orgaz
Village
Orgaz is a municipality in the comarca of Montes de Toledo, in the province of Toledo, situated in a ravine at the foot of the sierra de Yébenes, in the area traditionally called La Sisla, and includes the hamlet of Arisgotas. Documented since 1183, when the pass of Orgaz is mentioned in an agreement between the archbishop of Toledo and the master of Calatrava, it was the cradle of the lineage that gave its title to the county of Orgaz, which tradition attributes to El Cid when he married Jimena in Burgos. Its main monument is the church of Santo Tomás Apóstol, an ashlar temple designed by Alberto Churriguera in the mid-18th century; it also preserves the bridge of the Cinco Ojos, from the time of Charles III, and the Museo de Arte Visigodo of Arisgotas. It has 2639 inhabitants (INE 2025).
Castle of Orgaz
Monument
The castle of Orgaz, or castle of the counts of Orgaz, stands to the west of the town, in the province of Toledo. It is a late medieval fortress built in the 14th century by order of Alvar Pérez de Guzmán, lord of Orgaz, over an earlier 12th-century building, and remodelled in the 15th century. It was the residence of the Ruiz de Toledo and Pérez de Guzmán families and, during the Comuneros' uprising, served as a refuge for the townspeople, which is why Charles I's troops burned it down. Rectangular in plan, its keep reaches 20 metres in height, with ashlar corner turrets and a voussoired doorway beneath the Guzmán coat of arms. Built of rubble stone and brick, it was restored and converted into a dwelling after being sold to the Llopis family.
Church of Santo Tomás Apóstol de Orgaz
Monument
The church of Saint Thomas the Apostle in Orgaz is the work of Alberto Churriguera, who moved to the city where he died before finishing it; its construction, interrupted on numerous occasions, was completed in 1763, in the mid-18th century. It was built on the site of an earlier temple from the late 17th century, whose capacity proved insufficient for parishioners on feast days. Work began in 1738, after the tower of the old building was demolished, and Churriguera chose to rebuild the church entirely; the main chapel of the original temple, however, was preserved and still forms part of the present one. Repeatedly halted by the chapter's financial problems, the temple opened for worship on 23 January 1763, on the initiative of Infante Luis and with the approval of the Council of Castile.
Bridge of los Cinco Ojos
Monument
Stone bridge over the Riánsares stream commissioned in the time of Charles III to make royal hunting trips towards Los Yébenes easier. It was restored in 2001.
Arches of San José and Belén
Monument
Two of the four gates that gave access to the walled precinct of the medieval town of Orgaz, preserved within the historic centre. The Arch of San José is a round arch framed by two rubble-stone piers, which may date from the 15th century. The Arch of Bethlehem also has a round-arched opening, with a machicolation on one side and a crenellated top; it was rebuilt with irregular stones laid between courses of adobe, imitating the traditional walls of Toledo. Of the four medieval gates, only the name of the one to the south-east, the Puerta de Mora, has survived.
Museum of Arte Visigodo de Arisgotas
Monument
Museum in the outlying village of Arisgotas which brings together Visigothic reliefs and sculptural pieces found in the area, coming from an important early medieval monastic complex.
Balancing rocks of Orgaz
Nature
Granite formations in which large blocks appear to balance on top of one another, a landscape characteristic of the berrocales of the area. The entry for Orgaz places them among the megalithic monuments scattered across the municipality and cites as examples of these rocking stones the Peña de la Levadura, the Peña del Huevo and the Piedra que se Anda.
Festival of la Primavera de Orgaz
Activity
The Spring Festival of Orgaz is held on the third weekend of May and was declared a Fiesta de Interés Turístico Regional (an official designation recognising festivals of special regional tourist interest) in 2019. The programme brings together parades, music and popular events with which the town announces the arrival of spring, one of the most notable dates on the local festive calendar.
Orgaz in the documents of 1183
Historical milestone
The place is documented from 1183 and it has been proposed that it be identified with the Barnices that Ptolemy placed in Carpetania. From that medieval centre came the lineage that gave its title to the county of Orgaz, one of the historic seigneuries of the Montes.
Butter beans with partridge
Food and drink
Large beans cooked at length with red-legged partridge, bay leaf and paprika, a winter dish that combines the cereal larder with the small game of the plains. It appears on the menus of the town's inns alongside sopa de picadillo.