Logbook · 4 places

What to see and do in Zarzalejo

What to see and do in Zarzalejo (Sierra Oeste, Madrid): 4 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

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

How far each place is from the centre of Zarzalejo

Church of San Pedro Apóstol de Zarzalejo 50 m
Las Machotas 2.8 km

Towns near Zarzalejo

Spain › Community of Madrid › Sierra Oeste › Zarzalejo

What to see and do in Zarzalejo

Zarzalejo
Village
Zarzalejo is a town of about 1,950 inhabitants in the Sierra Oeste of Madrid, at 1,104 metres, at the foot of the Machotas, two granite hills of 1,464 and 1,404 metres, southern foothills of the sierra de Guadarrama. Its name comes from the abundance of brambles in the area, and the first settlements, from the Bronze Age, left ceramic remains on the Machota Alta. In the 12th century it was repopulated by Christian knights from Segovia, and already appears under its present name in the Libro de la Montería of Alfonso XI, in the 14th century. It supplied stone and stonemasons for the building of El Escorial, which in the time of Philip II was also a place of leisure for the monarch. The village is split into two settlements, the old town and La Estación, and preserves the church of San Pedro Apóstol, rebuilt in 1619.
Church of San Pedro Apóstol de Zarzalejo
Monument
A parish church rebuilt in 1619 with the austerity of the Herrerian style and careful stonework, the work of the same local trade that quarried and dressed the granite sent to the monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.
Las Machotas
Nature
A twin granite summit on the southern slope of the sierra de Guadarrama, separated from its main range by faults, between the municipalities of Zarzalejo, El Escorial and San Lorenzo de El Escorial. The Machota Alta, 1,464 metres high and known as the Pico del Fraile, and the Machota Baja, 1,404 metres high and with a more rugged relief, result from an ancient plutonic intrusion whose differential erosion has left abundant granite boulders and boulder fields, such as la Bola, el Badajo or el Gigante Mudo. Oak and chestnut woods grow on its slopes —some classified as monumental trees— and, higher up, juniper stands and broom scrub. They form part of the Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) named El Escorial: Monasterio, Sitio y Entorno Natural y Cultural, and are reached from Zarzalejo.
The granite of Zarzalejo at El Escorial
Historical milestone
The municipality's quarries supplied the ashlar for the building of the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial during the two decades the work lasted (1563-1584), and from them also came a good part of the stonemasons who raised it.