Walls of Buitrago del Lozoya

The walls of Buitrago del Lozoya encircle the old town in a long, almost complete ring of stone, and they are among the best-preserved medieval defences in the Community of Madrid. Buitrago stands in the valley of the Lozoya river, on the road that crosses the Sierra de Guadarrama, about seventy-four kilometres north of Madrid, and its strategic position at the foot of the mountain pass made it an important border town in the Middle Ages. The town sits on a loop of the river, which forms a natural moat on three sides, and the wall closes the fourth side, making a small, defended peninsula. It was a stronghold of the Mendoza family, the noble house that held the town in the fifteenth century.

The present walls date mainly from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, though they were built on older foundations that go back to the Muslim and early Christian periods. They are built of stone and brick, in the Mudéjar tradition of the region, and run for about a kilometre and a half, with towers and gateways at intervals. A large gate, the Puerta de la Villa, the town gate, opens to the main street. The best-preserved sections can be seen near the river, where the stone rises directly from the bank, and walkers can follow parts of the route outside the walls along the river, with views of the circuit. A footbridge and a medieval bridge cross the river.

Inside the walls, the historic centre is compact and easy to explore on foot. The Castle, or Alcázar, a fifteenth-century fortress built by the Mendozas, stands at the edge of the enclosure, and is decorated in Mudéjar style with brick patterns, and it is now used for cultural events. The Church of Santa María del Castillo, a Gothic and Mudéjar church of the fifteenth century, has a handsome bell tower in Mudéjar style, and the church was damaged in the Spanish Civil War, when the town was close to the front line, and was later restored. A separate clock tower, about sixteen metres high, stands near the church. In the area, archaeological work has revealed a medieval graveyard beside the church, a sign of the area’s long history.

The town is also home to a small museum that houses a collection of works by Pablo Picasso, the Eugenio Arias Collection, which is described elsewhere in this guide, and the combination of walls, castle, church and museum makes Buitrago an appealing short visit. The streets are quiet, with a few cafes and restaurants serving roast lamb and the cooking of the Sierra.

The walls are an open-air monument, free to walk along, and the paths are open at all times. Buitrago can be reached from Madrid by bus or by car in about an hour. A visit takes two to three hours, and it combines well with a walk along the river. The mountain air is cool, and winters can be cold.