A few kilometers from Madrid are the only city in the Community of Madrid that is a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and the last I had 3 hours of margin to go to the airport, so I decided to visit this city and visit some of the places that make it magical.
Alcalá de Henares, in a city known globally thanks to the most important person who was born in this city and is none other than the writer Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, author of the masterful work entitled "The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha" or better known as Don Quixote.
As you can imagine, this city revolves around the figure of Miguel Cervantes and one of the most beautiful parks in the city and in the heart of the city is the Plaza Miguel de Cervantes, which at this time of year presents an enviable appearance.
The charm of this square is perhaps due to the fact that unlike the park of the big cities, it is surrounded by houses of medium height and also by some old buildings such as the Tower of Santa Maria from medieval times or some administrative buildings and the auditorium of the University of Alcalá.
Speaking of the University, the University of Alcalá is one of the historical universities of Spain.
It was founded by Cardinal Cisneros, of whom there is a statue in the garden in front of the historical building of the university.
This university is well known in the Spanish-speaking world for being in charge of awarding the Cervantes literature prize every year.
And for those who have time I recommend visiting its inner courtyard and better yet request a guided tour in which you will discover the history of the founding of this university of medieval origin that has lasted until today.
As I told you my time to visit the city was limited, but I was able to observe through its streets the reasons why the UNESCO granted the category of world heritage to this city when I was walking along the main street where with some modern touches you can still see buildings with a certain aroma of old.
The houses in this area of Alcalá barely have a height up to a third floor and are built on the columns of the arcades, with many stores of all kinds that give richness to the neighborhood.
Walking through the streets of the main street, there were two things that caught my attention. The first was the curious shape of a dragon that had the mouths of the gutters of the houses along the street.
And the one I liked the most was to find these two characters from Cervantes' novel on a bench.
I could not pass the opportunity to sit next to Don Quixote.
Although the photo made me feel very fat because Quixote, as the novel says, is a gentleman with wiry skin.
But undoubtedly, the photo that I will keep, and maybe I will use it soon as my profile picture, is this photo with the faithful squire Sancho. The one who gave sanity to Cervantes' novel.
This bench could not be better placed as it is in the main street and right in front of the Cervantes Museum, which is the former birthplace of Cervantes. But as time was limited, I could not access to visit it.
Back to the area where I had parked, I realized that the city revolves around Cervantes, Quixote and Sancho, as you can see in some of the restaurants.
And also in some squares with sculptures of the nobleman and if you look at the roof of the gas station is a hat similar to the one used by Quixote. Ole, Ole and ole.
Finally, I found curious this building that as I checked on Google Maps is the Palace of Laredo, which is a neo-Mudéjar construction of exposed brick. And from what I have seen in different tourism pages, its interior is very nice and surprising.
Therefore, my 3-hour visit to the city was short, and I only count the days to return with time to visit the university, Cervantes house and other places that I have surely left to visit.
Regards.
