Logbook · 12 places

What to see and do in Castillo de Bayuela

What to see and do in Castillo de Bayuela (Sierra de San Vicente, Toledo): 12 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 4 Monuments · 2 Nature · 1 Activities · 3 Historical milestones · 1 Food and drink

When to go to Castillo de Bayuela: festival calendar

February: El Chorizo Gordo de Castillo de Bayuela (February)

How far each place is from the centre of Castillo de Bayuela

Towns near Castillo de Bayuela

Spain › Castilla-La Mancha › Toledo › Sierra de San Vicente › Castillo de Bayuela

What to see and do in Castillo de Bayuela

Castillo de Bayuela
Village
Municipality of the comarca of Sierra de San Vicente, in the province of Toledo, on which Henry III conferred in 1393 the title of town with jurisdiction over six surrounding hamlets; on the hill that dominates the town an Iron Age Vettonian castro is preserved and on the Plaza de San Andrés a stone verraco in the form of a bull, while its parish church, raised around 1480, received in the sixteenth century a Renaissance doorway designed by Pedro de Tolosa, master of works at El Escorial.
Vettonian Hillfort of the Cerro del Castillo
Nature
Fortified Iron Age settlement on the hill dominating the town, one of the most representative Vettonian hill forts in the province of Toledo.
Verraco of Castillo de Bayuela
Monument
Zoomorphic Vettonian sculptures in the shape of a bull documented in Castillo de Bayuela: two examples are preserved in the plaza de San Antonio, in perfect condition and considered among the best-preserved verracos in the province.
Warrior Stele of Castillo de Bayuela
Monument
Prehistoric funerary stela depicting a warrior, noted as one of the largest and best preserved on the Iberian Peninsula. It is a stone monolith from the end of the Bronze Age, on whose main face can be made out the schematic drawing of a warrior figure, among the largest dimensions known for this type of stela. It is now kept at the municipality's Centro de Interpretación de la Naturaleza y Patrimonio Histórico.
Church of San Andrés de Castillo de Bayuela
Monument
The church of San Andrés in Castillo de Bayuela, in Gothic-Renaissance style, was built around 1480 and has evolved since then: it has a nave and a semicircular chancel covered by a ribbed vault with tiercerons. In the mid-16th century the master builder Juan de Azpeitia worked on it, and between 1560 and 1564 Pedro de Tolosa, master mason of El Escorial, raised the main façade. In 1924 a fire destroyed the interior and its treasures; after restoration, in 1934 the Ruiz de Luna workshop installed the large ceramic altarpiece known as the Sistine Chapel of the Ruiz de Luna.
Jurisdictional Pillar of Castillo de Bayuela
Monument
Rollo in late Gothic style from the early 16th century, considered the finest of those preserved in the province of Toledo, to the point of being called the king of the Toledan rollos. It stands in the village square: on a circular stepped base, a monolithic column supports a capital with four lion heads beneath a small canopy, with two coats of arms of the Mendoza family.
Los Frailes of Balsamaña
Nature
Curious rock formations in the dehesa of Balsamaña, shaped by erosion, which take their name from their silhouette.
El Chorizo Gordo de Castillo de Bayuela
Activity
El Chorizo Gordo is a popular festivity of Castillo de Bayuela, in the Sierra de San Vicente (Toledo), of carnival origin and held on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, in February. Bayoleros and numerous visitors spend the day in the countryside sharing fried chorizo and tortilla de patata in a lively, festive atmosphere. The celebration's name comes from the sausage itself: it was traditionally made with the pig's large intestine, hence the word gordo (fat). The festivity coincides with the matanza, the pig slaughter, and the sharing out of sausage among those present, a deeply rooted custom marking the end of winter before Lent.
The 1393 town charter
Historical milestone
Enrique III granted Bayuela the title of villa on 12 October 1393, with jurisdiction over six villages around it. The town afterwards passed through several noble houses, among them that of the Mendoza, until the end of the seigneuries.
The portal of Pedro de Tolosa
Historical milestone
The parish church raised around 1480 received in the sixteenth century a Renaissance doorway designed by Pedro de Tolosa, a master builder who worked on the works of El Escorial. It is the most carefully worked piece of stonemasonry in the whole sierra.
The Roman villas of the valley
Historical milestone
Below the hill occupied by the Vettones, in Castillo de Bayuela, the Romans built agricultural villas and a dam to irrigate the valley. To that continuous settlement are added Visigothic necropolises and a Muslim watchtower later converted into a hermitage.
The wine of the sierra
Food and drink
The vineyard of the flat areas of the comarca is vinified within the area of the Méntrida designation of origin, with a predominance of garnacha. They are reds of high strength that accompany the cured meats and the roasts of the sierra.