Discover the archpriestly town of Hita

The ruins of the church of San Pedro, of Mudejar style, were destroyed during the Civil War. In the 16th century, the nobles of the town placed their tombs inside the church, and their tombstones covered a large part of the pavement. Some are still preserved in the ruins, although most were moved to the church of San Juan. In 1792 a small neoclassical chapel was added behind the main altar, known as the camarín de la Virgen. Its facade of sandstone ashlars and the original grille of the window are preserved.

The Casa Museo del Arcipreste pays homage to the Archpriest of Hita and his masterpiece, the Book of Good Love. This small museum has rooms dedicated to the Medieval Theater Festival of Hita, where photographs, costumes and masks used in the Combat between Don Carnal and Doña Cuaresma are exhibited. It also offers an archaeological collection with remains of Hita and its region, a room with farm implements and another that recreates the traditional cuisine, offering a complete vision of the local culture.

The Plaza del Arcipreste, old market and core of the medieval Jewish quarter of Hita, housed the homes of Jewish merchants dedicated to wine and wool. Today it shows popular architecture with colonnaded houses and Mudejar brick facades. A wall, called the Pretil, separates it from the Plaza de Doña Endrina. In that wall is the dungeon of the Archpriest, recreation of the prison of Juan Ruiz, medieval poet author of the "Book of Good Love", imprisoned in the fourteenth century by order of Archbishop Gil de Albornoz.

The town of Hita was protected by a medieval wall ordered by Iñigo López de Mendoza, Marquis of Santillana, in 1441. Of this defensive fence, built in limestone, a kilometer divided into five sections is preserved. The wall had four gates, of which only the Arco de Santa María, the main one, remains standing. Under one of its sections was built in 1970 the palenque of Hita, a rectangular enclosure that recreates the old medieval palenques for war training. Jousting and tournaments are held there every year as part of the Hita Medieval Festival, declared a Festival of National Tourist Interest.

The Gate of Santa Maria in Hita (Guadalajara) is the only preserved entrance of the defensive wall, representing the Gothic military architecture of the 15th century. It is formed by a pointed arch, two garitones and a crenellated machicolation. Presiding over the entrance is the coat of arms of Iñigo López de Mendoza, Marquis of Santillana and Lord of Hita, flanked by two helmets symbolizing his motto in knightly tournaments. During the Civil War it was partially destroyed, and it was rebuilt in 1966, completing the matacán in 2005.

The Church of San Juan, of Gothic-Mudejar architecture from the 15th and 16th centuries, has three naves, a polygonal apse and a bell tower in the Herrerian style. In its interior wooden ceilings of the XVI century stand out, as the Mudejar armor with star ties that covers the presbytery. The chapel of Santa María de la Cuesta houses a Renaissance coffered ceiling with octagonal coffers. From the south entrance there is a wide panoramic view of the Badiel valley, which extends to the foot of the temple.