Logbook · 5 places

What to see and do in El Álamo

What to see and do in El Álamo (Comarca Sur, Madrid): 5 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 2 Monuments · 1 Activities · 1 Historical milestones

Towns near El Álamo

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What to see in Casarrubios del Monte 6.5 km · 11 places
What to see in Arroyomolinos 7.2 km · 5 places
What to see in Serranillos del Valle 9.2 km · 3 places
What to see in Valmojado 9.2 km · 7 places
What to see in Carranque 10 km · 7 places
What to see in Griñón 11 km · 6 places

Spain › Community of Madrid › Comarca Sur › El Álamo

What to see and do in El Álamo

El Álamo
Village
El Álamo is a town of around 10,500 inhabitants southwest of Madrid, 37 kilometers from the capital, formed around the Venta de Toribio Fernández Montero, a meeting point of the Extremadura Royal Road and a merino sheep track between the Cañadas Reales Riojana and Segoviana, which its lord, Gonzalo Chacón, renamed El Álamo. The territory, resettled by Segovia during the Reconquest, was part of the sexmo of Casarrubios del Monte until, on 25 April 1662, the town obtained the privilege of villazgo. In the 18th century its population fell from 635 to 250 inhabitants because of the War of Succession. It preserves the hermitage of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, from the 16th century, which received the body of San Isidro in 1619, and it holds a Medieval Fair every 1 and 2 May.
Hermitage of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad de El Álamo
Monument
The Ermita de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, on avenida de Madrid, north of El Álamo, dates from the 16th century and is the oldest building the municipality still has. In 1619 it housed for one night the body of San Isidro, being carried along the Camino Real de Extremadura towards Casarrubios, where King Philip III lay ill on his way back from Portugal; the procession stopped in El Álamo because of bad autumn weather, and the presence of the relic together with the king's recovery made a deep impression on the local people. Devotion to the dressed image of the Soledad gave rise to inventories of jewels, which recorded the sacred objects and liturgical vestments used exclusively by the chapel. Today it stands on the plaza de Aveizieux, named after the French village twinned with El Álamo.
Church of Santiago Apóstol de El Álamo
Monument
The church founded in 1474 by Gonzalo Chacón was left in ruins in the Civil War by the explosion of a powder magazine; the present one, designed in 1964 and finished in 1974, preserves the old font and the image of the Christ of Health.
Great Medieval Fair of El Álamo
Activity
Declared a Fair of Regional Tourist Interest, between late April and the first days of May it lays out close to two kilometres of craft stalls, jousts and street parades, and draws tens of thousands of visitors each year.
The town charter of El Álamo
Historical milestone
The privilege separated this settlement from Casarrubios del Monte for the first time in 1662. The village had been born around an inn of the seigneury of Gonzalo Chacón that ended up giving its name to the whole municipality.