A visit to the city of Alcalá de Henares, followed by the Farewell Dinner, will take place after the closure ceremony and lunch on Friday, May 31. Buses will depart from Madrid at 15.30h and the visit is foreseen to start at 16.30h. Some historical aspects: Alcalá de Henares, located 35 Km east from Madrid with a population of around 200.000, is one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. It is generally known simply as "Alcalá", but "de Henares" is often appended to differentiate it from other Spanish cities sharing the name Alcalá (from the Arabic word al-qal'a meaning fortress). The city origins are to be found in the Bronze Age. Romans conquered the area in the 1st century BC, and built the town of Complutum (its Latin name). After the falling apart of the Roman Empire, under the Visigoths, it declined, although it also became a pilgrimage place for the Saints Justo and Pastor. Alcalá de Henares When the Moors arrived at the beginning of the 8th Century, subdued the Visigothic city and founded another site (an al-qal'a), on a nearby hill, today known as Alcalá la Vieja (Old Alcalá). In 1118 it was reconquered by the Archbishop of Toledo in the name of Castile, but the Christians preferred the Burgo de Santiuste (Saint Just's borough) located on the original Roman site and therefore the Arab one was abandoned. Under Christian rule and until the end of the Reconquista (Reconquest), the city had both a Jewish and a Moorish quarter as well as a renowned marketplace. In the 1480s Christopher Columbus had his first meeting at the "Casa de la Entrevista" with the Reyes Católicos, Ferdinand and Isabella, who funded the travel for the discovery of America. The well known Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was born in Alcalá de Henares in 1547. His magnum opus, Don Quixote, considered to be the first modern European novel, is a classic of Western literature. His influence on the Spanish language has been so great that the language is often called la lengua de Cervantes ("the language of Cervantes"). Alcalá is also well known for its population of white storks. Their large nests can be observed atop many of the churches and historic buildings in the city, and are themselves a significant tourist attraction. 1 of 5
1. The tour will start visiting Cervantes Natal House Museum, located in the old quarter of the city. Cervantes led an adventurous life and achieved much popular success, but he nevertheless struggled financially throughout his life. Little is known about his childhood, except that he was a favorite student of Madrid humanist Juan López, and that his father was an apothecary. In 1569, Cervantes was living in Rome and working for a future cardinal. Shortly thereafter, he enlisted in the Spanish fleet to fight against the Turks. At the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, he took three bullets and suffered permanent damage to his left hand. Later, he was stationed at Palermo and Naples. On the way home to Madrid in 1575, he and his brother Rodrigo were captured by Barbary pirates and held captive in Algiers. Cervantes was ransomed after five years of captivity and returned to Madrid, where he began writing. Although his records indicate he wrote 20 to 30 plays, only two survive. In 1585, he published a romance. In 1604, he received the license to publish Cervantes Natal House Museum Don Quixote. Although the book began as a satire of chivalric epics, it was far more complex than a simple satire. The book blended traditional genres to create a sad portrait of a penniless man striving to live by the ideals of the past. The book was a huge success and brought Cervantes literary respect and position, but did not generate much money. He wrote dramas and short stories until a phony sequel, penned by another writer, prompted him to write Don Quixote, Part II in 1615. He died one year later, in 1616. 2. The tour will continue visiting the Santos Niños Cathedral, also called Magistral Church, a late Gothic style monument built in the 15 th Century. It is the only cathedral in the world with the right to be called Magistral, together with the St. Peter Church in Louvain (Belgium). This was a title given in recognition of the teaching inside those temples, and that its priests had to be doctors of theology. In the crypt of this wellpreserved church in gothic style the bodies of the two boys turned saints, Justo and Pastor, are buried. They stood up and died as martyrs, only 7 and 9 years old, back in the year 304, when the romans of Hispania held this city (then called Complutum) and tried to force them to give up their Christian belief. Santos Niños Cathedral, also called Magistral Church, a late Gothic style monument built in the 15 th Century 2 of 5
3. Nearby the cathedral we will find the so called Casa de la Entrevista. This was the church of the old monastery of San Juan de la Penitencia, founded by Cardinal Cisneros in 1504. Its name ('the house of the interview') derives from the fact that this was where the first audience took place between Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella 'la Católica' who funded the travel for the discovery of America. It is now an exhibition hall belonging to the Town Hall. 4. Continuing the tour we will visit the Archbishop's Palace, located at Plaza del Palacio. It was built in the 13th century by Rodrigo Ximénez de Rada (hero of the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, 1212) as a palacefortress to house the Archbishops of Toledo until the 19th century. The façade was designed by Alonso de Covarrubias in the 16th century. It contains a large tower called the Tenorio Tower that was added in the 14th century, and that shows the former use of the building as a defense fortress. In 1485 Catalina de Aragon was born in the palace. She was the younger daughter of Queen Isabel of Castile and King Fernando of Aragon. She was married to Henry VIII of England in 1509. In the 15th and 16th century the palace was transformed into a Renaissance palace under Archbishops Cisneros, Fonseca, and Tavera. In the middle of the 19th century it was restored with a Neogothic and Mudejar style by Manuel Laredo. The Palace suffered a serious fire in 1939, which not only destroyed an artistic legacy but also the State's Central Archives. Entrance to Casa de la Entrevista The Archbishop s Palace 5. It is also foreseen a walk along Alcala s main Street (calle Mayor), which was the commercial area of the Jewish headquarter during the 15 th century. It is still an important shopping area and is considered the longest street in Spain with these typical arcades. Calle Mayor 3 of 5
6. The calle Mayor (the main Street with typical arcades) ends at the Cervantes Square (in the past Market Square). The Cervantes Square is the main square of the city, and an essential crossing point for visiting the historic city. In this mix of square and park, chaired by the statue of Miguel de Cervantes and the bandstand, we find the Comedy Corral and the tower of Santa María, which can be raised to get the best views of the square and the city. 7. The visit to the Ancient University of Alcalá will Cervantes Square start around 18.30h. It occupies one of the most emblematic buildings of the town, where the Rector s office is currently located. This University (known as Universidad Complutense), is one of the oldest universities in the world, and was founded by King Sancho IV of Castile as Studium Generale in 1293. With the patronage of Cardinal Cisneros, it was granted Papal Bull in 1499, and quickly gained international fame as a main centre of learning of the Renaissance thanks to the production of the Complutensian Polyglot Bible in 1517, which is the basis for most of the current translations. Today's University of Alcalá preserves its traditional humanities faculties, a testimony to the university's special efforts, past The plateresque façade of the ancient Alcalá University and present, to promote and diffuse the Spanish language through both its studies and the Cervantes Prize, which is awarded annually by the King and Queen of Spain in the Paraninfo (Great Hall). The guided tour will start with a detailed explanation about the main façade of the building, one of the best examples of the plateresque style ("in the manner of a silversmith"; plata means silver in Spanish). This architectonic fashion was an artistic movement traditionally held to be exclusive to Spain and its territories, which appeared One of the beautiful University courtyards between the late Gothic and early Renaissance in the late 15th century, and spread over the next two centuries. It is a modification of Gothic spatial concepts and an eclectic blend of Mudejar, Flamboyant Gothic and Lombard decorative components, and Renaissance elements of Tuscan origin. 4 of 5
8. Guided visit will end around 19.30h and visitors will have circa one hour free time for a walk. 9. At 20.30h, a welcome appetizer will be offered in the Parador of Alcalá, followed by the farewell dinner at 21:00h. 10. Finally, buses will depart to Madrid at 24:00h. Parador of Alcalá 5 of 5