Logbook · 5 places

What to see and do in Morata de Tajuña

What to see and do in Morata de Tajuña (Las Vegas, Madrid): 5 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 2 Monuments · 1 Historical milestones · 1 Food and drink

How far each place is from the centre of Morata de Tajuña

Museum of la Batalla del Jarama 400 m

Towns near Morata de Tajuña

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Spain › Community of Madrid › Las Vegas › Morata de Tajuña

What to see and do in Morata de Tajuña

Morata de Tajuña
Village
Morata de Tajuña is a town of about 8,400 inhabitants in the southeast of the Community of Madrid, situated in the valley of the Tajuña river, in the comarca of the Alcarria. The Romans already made use of the waters of the Tajuña — the ancient Tagonius — giving its vega a network of irrigation channels or caceras that were later inherited by Visigoths and Arabs, and which still irrigates the vega today, also driving flour mills such as the 18th-century one at the Huerta de Angulo. In the 15th century the marriage of Hernando Díaz de Benavente to Juana Díaz was celebrated in the village, an event that Lope de Vega brought to the stage in La piedad ejecutada. In 1901 the Tajuña railway arrived, which remained in service until the mid-20th century. Its Living Passion, performed since 1987, has been declared a Fiesta de Interés Turístico (an official designation recognising festivals of special tourist interest).
Church of Nuestra Señora de la Concepción de Morata
Monument
A 16th-century Renaissance church built with local stone, with a barrel-vaulted central nave, side chapels and Tuscan columns; its bell tower rises above the rooftops and dominates the Tajuña valley.
Museum of la Batalla del Jarama
Monument
The Museo de la Batalla del Jarama brings together, at the El Cid inn in Morata de Tajuña, a collection of objects gathered from the battlefield: pierced helmets, safe-conducts, ration cards, maps, coins and press from the front. Everything comes from the Battle of the Jarama, one of the great engagements of the Civil War, fought between 6 and 27 February 1937 when the insurgent army tried to cut Madrid's communications with Valencia and take Arganda del Rey; the fighting, involving the XI, XII, XIV and XV International Brigades, took place between the Jarama river and Morata de Tajuña, with the republican forces grouped under general José Miaja. The republican defence not only halted the siege of Madrid but also delayed the end of the war.
The arrival of the Tajuña train
Historical milestone
The extension of the narrow-gauge railway that ran from Madrid towards Arganda reached the village in 1901 and gave it a mixed passenger and goods station. The line sustained the valley's economy until its decline in the 1950s.
Aceite de Madrid olive oil from the Tajuña valley
Food and drink
The municipality forms part of the protected denomination of origin Aceite de Madrid, which covers extra virgin olive oils from forty-two districts. The main varieties are cornicabra, castellana and manzanilla cacereña.