Logbook · 8 places

What to see and do in Paracuellos de Jarama

What to see and do in Paracuellos de Jarama (Cuenca del Medio Jarama, Madrid): 8 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 3 Monuments · 3 Nature · 1 Historical milestones

How far each place is from the centre of Paracuellos de Jarama

Towns near Paracuellos de Jarama

What to see in Ajalvir 5.3 km · 4 places
What to see in Cobeña 7.2 km · 4 places
What to see in Torrejón de Ardoz 7.3 km · 6 places
What to see in Daganzo de Arriba 7.5 km · 6 places
What to see in San Fernando de Henares 8.8 km · 5 places
What to see in Coslada 9.2 km · 2 places
What to see in Alcobendas 9.3 km · 5 places
What to see in San Sebastián de los Reyes 9.4 km · 4 places

Spain › Community of Madrid › Cuenca del Medio Jarama › Paracuellos de Jarama

What to see and do in Paracuellos de Jarama

Paracuellos de Jarama
Village
Paracuellos de Jarama is a town of about 27,600 inhabitants in the Community of Madrid, overlooking from its ridge the Jarama valley and close to Madrid-Barajas Airport. In 2010, building works brought to light a site between 5,000 and 2,800 years old, with 180 structures of huts and pits, the earliest known settlement in the municipality. The town has Muslim origins, with a castle of which remains survive today; already between the 12th and 13th centuries there are references to the town of Paracollos. Philip II later sold the town to a noble family that ended up in the hands of the House of Medinaceli. It preserves the church of San Vicente Mártir, but its name was marked by the massacres of 1936, when forces loyal to the Second Republic shot thousands of people, most of them from the Modelo prison.
Church of San Vicente Mártir de Paracuellos
Monument
Church of Toledan Mudejar style in brick and rubble masonry whose construction, according to the granite stone on the south front, began in 1587 and ended in 1640 with the patronage of the Constable of Castile. It has been a Monumento Histórico-Artístico (Spain's heritage designation in force between 1931 and 1985) since 22 April 1983.
Viewpoint of el Picón del Cura
Nature
From this balcony overlooking the escarpment that dominates the Jarama floodplain, the whole valley can be taken in, along with the entire Barajas airport and the built-up areas of San Fernando, Alcobendas and San Sebastián de los Reyes. It is one of the landmarks of the municipality's trail network.
Archaeological site of el Cerro de los Guardias
Nature
In the 1970s one of the country's most important palaeontological sites was discovered on this hill, with fossil remains of Miocene animals. Today it is reached by one of the routes of the municipality's restored trail network.
Palace of los duques de Medinaceli de Paracuellos
Monument
A 16th-century complex built at the order of Ares Pardo de Tavera, Marshal of Castile and lord of Paracuellos; it is laid out over two square floors around a central courtyard with Tuscan granite columns and semicircular arches.
Castle of Malsobaco
Monument
The castle of Malsobaco is an Islamic fortress with a triangular floor plan raised on a rocky hill in the municipal district of Paracuellos de Jarama, with a tower, a cistern, a barbican and an upper enclosure of five towers. Mentioned in documents from 1140, Toledo ceded it in 1180 to the Order of Santiago, which held it until the 16th century. Of the old fortification, classified as a small sajra-type castellet, barely any ruins remain today. Like the rest of Spain's castles, it was granted generic protection by a 1949 decree, and it currently holds the status of Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection).
Bluffs and cliffs of the Jarama in Paracuellos
Nature
Gypsum and limestone escarpments above the river's floodplain that form part of the Cliffs and Crags of the Jarama and Manzanares Rivers Special Protection Area for Birds, covering 27,983 hectares, a refuge for cliff-nesting raptors and a natural balcony over the valley from the edge of the town.
The "sacas" of Paracuellos (mass killings)
Historical milestone
During the siege of Madrid, in 1936, prisoners evacuated from the capital's jails were shot in the ravines of the municipality. Of the thirty-three recorded transfers, twenty-three ended in massacres; the number of victims is still a matter of debate.