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Points of interest in Atienza

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Castle of Atienza

During the Middle Ages it was the Arabs who built this great citadel in the area, being one of the most impressive squares, already mentioned in El Cantar del Mío Cid as "peña mui fuert". It is one of the most emblematic rock castles of Castile. Recovered by the Christians, it was a State prison, where the Duke of Calabria was imprisoned. During the War of Independence it was sacked by the French troops. It has been declared a National Monument. In the exterior, it emphasizes the tower of the homage of square plant, with two floors, interior stairs and terrace from where an extraordinary panoramic of the whole area is appreciated, in addition to a circular flown garitón. On the rocky massif there are also two cisterns with brick vaults. From the castle started the walls that surrounded Atienza.

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Walls of Atienza

Atienza has two wall belts, of which it preserves approximately two kilometers. The innermost, from the time of Alfonso VII, begins and ends at the castle and surrounds the Plaza del Trigo and Cervantes Street (traditionally and until 1905, Calle de la Zapatería). It had four gates, two of them (that of the Villa and the Nevera) disappeared; one of them preserved (that of Arrebatacapas); and the arch of Guerra, now demolished, although it retains some minimal elements of its original construction. This first belt also conserves two gates known as that of the Virgin and that of San Julián or of the Hospital or of the High King. The outermost one was built in the time of Alfonso VIII. The Gate of the Exit -which can be seen here-, eight cubes and the enclosure added at the beginning of the 15th century of the Jewish Quarter, near this point, are some of its most characteristic elements. There was also at least one other gate, the Antequera Gate, near the Hospital de Santa Ana, which has now disappeared.

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Arch of San Juan or of Arrebatacapas

The arch of San Juan or Arrebatacapas is a superb relic of the first wall of the town. It is of pointed arch, closing one of the sides of the square of Don Bruno Pascual Ruilópez or square of the Wheat and it communicates this square with the square of Spain. Its anecdotal name of "Arrebatacapas" is due to the fact that the wind snatches the capes of the atencinos when they crossed it.

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Wheat Square

Organized in the 16th century, it was the most important square of the town, the Plaza par excellence, where the town hall was located (until its transfer to its current location in the 18th century), the jail and later, the granary. It was here that the orders of the Town Hall had to be announced to take effect and here the weekly markets and public shows were held (theatrical performances and bullfights, above all). It is dominated by the imposing mass of the Church of San Juan del Mercado (in allusion to one of the functions of the Plaza) and in it you can see what was the house of the ecclesiastical Chapter, on columns topped by the double-headed eagle of Charles V and the keys of St. Peter. The harmony of its buildings, topped by beautiful eaves, and its airy arcades make it one of the most beautiful in Castile. Although officially it was simply the Plaza, it has also been known as Plaza del Trigo y del Mercado and, in the 20th century, Plaza de Don Bruno Pascual Ruilópez. For the people of Atenco, however, it was, has been and will be the Plaza de Arriba.

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San Juan del Mercado Church

The primitive Romanesque church of San Juan was demolished at the end of the 16th century in order to erect a new building. Although the works were prolonged until well into the 17th century, they were never finished. Part of its northern walls are leaning against the wall. On the southern side, in front of which you are standing, the façade is smooth, of ashlar, reinforced by solid ashlar buttresses. It has several windows and a classical doorway with columns on pedestals and a niche with a stone image of St. John the Baptist from the 18th century. The interior consists of three naves, separated by thick cylindrical columns. It emphasizes the altarpiece of the main altar, of baroque style, of the XVII century, in whose center appears the polychrome wood carving of San Juan Bautista. The altarpiece is completed with beautiful paintings by Alonso del Arco, from the 17th century, representing biblical scenes. The organ, located in the choir, from the 18th century, is equally striking.

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San Gil Museum

Only the semicircular apse is preserved from the 12th century Romanesque church. The rest of the church is Renaissance, from the 16th century. On the exterior, on the south wall, there is a Plateresque doorway with a semicircular arch decorated with rosaceas and flanked by pilasters topped by flambeaux. On the west wall there is another simpler doorway in Renaissance style. In the interior, with three naves separated by octagonal columns, the Mudejar coffered ceiling and a Romanesque baptismal font stand out. It houses a museum of sacred art, among which are the recumbent Christ, the Virgin of the Rosary and the tablets of the Prophets and the Sibyls. It also houses interesting collections of gold and silver work, archeology and mineralogy.

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Santisima Trinidad Church Museum

Of Romanesque style, from the 12th century, only the apse is preserved from this period, of Segovian influence, of great beauty and elegance. In the 16th century the church was renovated. On the exterior it has two doors, one oriented to the noon and the other to the west, both in Renaissance style. In the interior, of a single nave, the ribbed vault and the main altarpiece stand out, where the carving of the Holy Trinity is located, decorated with interesting canvases by Matías de Torres. On both sides of the nave there are several chapels. They emphasize that of the Ortega family, of the XVII century; that of the Santas Espinas (old chapel of the Cabildo); and that of the Inmaculada Concepción, of rococo style. The church of the Holy Trinity houses the museum of La Caballada, a Festival of National Tourist Interest, which has been celebrated in Atienza every Pentecost Sunday since 1162; and a museum of sacred art, which highlights the carvings of the Christ of the Four Nails, Romanesque; and the Christ of Forgiveness, by Luis Salvador Carmona, of the eighteenth century, the most prestigious Spanish sculptor of the time.

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St. Bartholomew's Church Museum

This 12th century Romanesque church stands out for its harmonious arcaded portico. Inside it houses a fascinating museum that combines sacred art, such as its baroque altarpiece, with one of the most important paleontology collections in the region, exhibiting thousands of fossils and minerals. It is a unique stop where medieval history and prehistoric science go hand in hand.

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