Logbook · 8 places

What to see and do in Chinchón

What to see and do in Chinchón (Las Vegas, Madrid): 8 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

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

How far each place is from the centre of Chinchón

Main Square of Chinchón 350 m
Wildlife refuge of the Laguna de San Juan 8.1 km

Towns near Chinchón

Spain › Community of Madrid › Las Vegas › Chinchón

What to see and do in Chinchón

Chinchón
Village
Chinchón is a town of about 5,800 inhabitants in the comarca of Las Vegas, in the Community of Madrid, whose historic quarter has been declared a Conjunto Histórico (a Spanish heritage protection designation for historic urban areas) since 1974. It sits on a knoll between the plateau and the fertile vegas of the Tajuña, with springs that gave it water and an easily defensible position; there are human remains from the Neolithic, among them the cueva de la Mora, and the remains of an Iberian city with a necropolis at the Cerro del Salitral. Alfonso VI's reconquest in 1083 returned it to Christian rule, and in 1480 it became the lordship of the marquises of Moya. Its Plaza Mayor, with wooden galleries over 234 balconies called claros, serves as a bullring and stage for the Passion play; it also preserves an Assumption painted by Goya.
Main Square of Chinchón
Monument
The plaza Mayor de Chinchón is an arcaded square considered one of the finest examples of its kind in Castile, situated in the town centre, in the southeast of the Comunidad de Madrid. It was enclosed in the 17th century using arcaded houses dating from the 15th century; the buildings around it, with exposed timber elements, have a total of 234 balconies, called claros, today painted green, though in the past they were blue. It enjoys level-1 integral protection and also functions as a bullring, besides having served as the setting for proclamations and theatrical performances.
Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Chinchón
Monument
A church built between 1534 and 1626 that overlooks the town of Chinchón from a rise above the plaza Mayor; on its main altarpiece hangs the Assumption of the Virgin that Francisco de Goya painted around 1812 for this parish. As early as 1921 it was recorded as the local parish church in the second volume of the Historia de Madrid y de los pueblos de su provincia, by the historian Juan Ortega Rubio, who left a written description of it.
Castle of los Condes de Chinchón
Monument
A Renaissance fortress rebuilt in the mid-16th century after the previous castle was destroyed during the Comuneros revolt of 1520; square in plan with towers at the corners, it stands south of the town and remains a ruin.
Wildlife refuge of the Laguna de San Juan
Nature
Located on the left bank of the Tajuña river, within the municipal boundary of Chinchón, this wetland of about 47 hectares has vegetation differentiated between the páramo and cliff area, the flood-plain area, and the alluvial area where the lagoon itself sits. It was declared a wildlife refuge on 14 February 1991 by decree of the Comunidad de Madrid, signed by president Joaquín Leguina, and published four days later in the regional Official Gazette. Pochards, ducks, marsh harriers and herons nest and winter there, making it one of the largest reservoirs of waterfowl in the region.
Anisette of Chinchón
Curiosity
An aniseed spirit distilled from aniseed grain that the Sociedad Cooperativa Alcoholera de Chinchón has been making since 1911, heir to the town's old Society of Wine, Vinegar and Spirit Growers; it holds a protected geographical indication.
The Passion of Chinchón
Activity
A sacred drama performed by more than three hundred local people at nightfall every Holy Saturday in the Plaza Mayor and the adjoining streets; it began in 1963 on the initiative of Luis Lezama and has been a Festival of National Tourist Interest since 1980.
The French sack of Chinchón
Historical milestone
In reprisal for the death of two French soldiers, a unit quartered in Aranjuez entered the town and killed eighty-six residents in 1808, during the Peninsular War. The town was then the head of a county.