Iglesia de San Miguel

The Church of San Miguel de Maderuelo is a religious building of Romanesque tradition, identified in the local tourist documentation as a church and also as a hermitage, located in the historic center of Maderuelo, Segovia, within the medieval heritage of the town. The location provided coincides with the intramural enclosure of this town, one of the best known monumental enclaves of the province. Its origin dates back to the 12th century, in the context of rural Castilian Romanesque architecture. The primitive construction responds to a simple typology, with a single nave and semicircular apse, and is related to the old western defensive system of the medieval town. Later, in the 15th century, the building was enlarged with a second rectangular nave and a small belfry, which introduces an architectural interpretation of late medieval evolution. In the interior, burials in Gothic arches are documented, among them the tombstone of the Hermosa family, a relevant testimony of its funerary use and the continuity of the local memory. The transformation of the old bell tower of the primitive Romanesque hermitage into a dwelling is also mentioned, a unique feature that reflects the adaptation of the building over time. Today it is a heritage asset without worship, integrated in the monumental visit of Maderuelo along with other historical resources of the town. Its value lies in the combination of rural Romanesque, Gothic additions and later transformations, which allow us to read the constructive and social history of the medieval center of Segovia.