Alcalá de Henares
Travel Guide > Europe > Spain > Madrid > Alcalá de Henares
In this Article
- Introduction
- Sights and Activities
- Events and Festivals
- Getting There
- Getting Around
- Eat
- Drink
- Sleep
- Keep Connected
Join the Hipporoller Challenge
Help the Travel Guide reach 20,000,000 characters and we'll donate 63 hipporollers worth over $6000. Read more.
Quick Facts
[edit]
- Population
- 203.645
- Altitude
- 588 metres
- Coordinates
-
- Latitude: 40.481389
- Longitude: -3.368056
On Travellerspoint
Contributors
Herr Bert (100%)
from A Dutchman in Madrid
Help contribute to this article to share the ad revenue.
Introduction
Alcalá de Henares is a small city in the east of the community of Madrid, halfway between Madrid and Guadalajara. The was founded by the Romans, and is famous for two things. The first was is the old University de Complutense, which was founded here in 1496 and the second one is that it is the birthplace of the most famous Spanish writes in history: Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, the writer of the 'The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha.', or in short just Don Quichote. The birthplace of Cervantes can be visited, and in the square which is named after him, there is a statue of the man. Due to the presence of the University, but also the Cervantes language school and the British Counsil, the town is home for many exchange students, which give the city an international atmosphere.
Sights and Activities
University
Set in the old city, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, you can find many impressive buildings, but the most important of all of them is the University of Alcalá, which was founded as the University de Complutense in 1496. The University de Complutense moved to Madrid in 1836, but in 1977 a new University was founded in Alcalá in the same buildings as were the old University used to be. Most of the buildings are a bit more modern a lie a bit further to the east of the town, where there also is a trainstation for the university. There are guided tours of the university, if you want to see the place. Note that the university can be closed during weddings, as there also is a chapel inside the building. If after your visit you feel that you would like to marry here, also note that only graduates from the University are allowed to be married here.
Cervantes
Miguel Cervantes was born in Alcalá in 1547, although not a lot is known about the young Cervantas, and it's not likely that he spend a lot of time in Alcalá de Henares, he is honoured by this town, in a number of ways. The birthplace at the Calle Major is now a small museum that can be visited. There is the square that bares his name, and also has a statue of the man. Besides that many statues of Don Quichote can be found in the city.
Calle Major
The Calle Major in Alcalá is a long street, which has arches on both sides of the road spanning the pavements. The arches are held in place by rows of columns. It can be fun to find out, which ones are the new one, and which ones are the oldest. It is said that this is the longest streets in Europe with arches on both sides of the street.
Events and Festivals
Cervantes Prize
On the 23th of April, the anniversary of Cervantes' death, the Cervantes Prize is awarded to a writer as a lifetime achievement award. In the Spanish-speaking world this is the most prestigious award in literature. The award is presented by the King of Spain at the University of Alcalá.
Semana Cervantina
During the first two weeks of October, a huge outdoor medieval festival takes place in Alcalá. It coincides with Cervantes birthday, and also with the arrival off the new students to the University. During the Festivities the historic center is turned into a medieval village, with parades, acrobats, jugglers, magicians, and artisans from all over Europe.
Oktoberfest
Yes, you are reading this for real. Alcalá has its own Oktoberfest, which in good tradition takes place in September. although it is a far cry from the one held in Munich, The Oktoberfest of Alcalá takes place at the Plaza de Toros and doesn't last for the 17 days that it lasts in Germany, but takes place during one weekend. The beer and the food however is typically German.
Getting There
By Plane
The nearest major airport is the airport of Madrid Barajas Airport (MAD). From there you can take the number 8 Metro Line to Nuevos Ministerios, where you can take the train to Alcalá de Henares.
By Train
Aranjuez can be reached very easily by train from Madrid. The cernanias (the commuter trains that services the suburbs of Madrid) also goes to Alcalá. It is the last stop on the C-2 line, and a stop on the C-7 that goes to Guadalajara. From Sol in the middle of Madrid, it takes around 40 minutes to arrive at the station in Alcalá. For students that need to go to the university of Alcalá, there also a trainstop called Alcalá - Universidad.
By Car
From Madrid, Alcalá can be reached by taking the A-2 motorway, this is also the motorway that you need to take if you come from Guadalajara, or even further, like Zaragoza or Barcelona.
By Bus
Getting Around
By Car
Getting around in Alcalá is not as demanding as getting around in Madrid, but finding a parking spot can be just as frustrating, at least in the city center.
By Public Transport
There are a number of busses going around the town. Here
you can find the routes of the city busses in Alcalá.
By Foot
To see the historic center of Alcalá one can best be on foot, distances are not huge. From the trainstation it only takes about 10 minutes to the Plaza de Cervantes. The Via Complutense can be used as a good reference point, as it runs from west to east through the town, paralel to the railway
Eat
If you like to drink, and get food for free, than Alcalá is the place to be. It is common in Spain, to get tapas, when you order a drink, but in Alcalá they server the biggest tapas in the country. Tapas here can be: Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, Slices of Pizza, and many (half) bocadillas with anything ranging from Ham to Calimares.
Drink
Keep Connected
Internet
Phone
See also International Telephone Calls
The international access code for Spain is +34,
The emergency number for police, ambulance and fire brigade is 112.
In town you can find plenty of public phones, and 'locutorios', the latter are small shops where you can use the phone and use internet. Most of them also sell prepaid cards for mobile telephones.
Post
This is version 10. Last edited at 20:02 on Sep 13, 09 by Herr Bert (-5). 4 articles link to this page.
Except where otherwise noted, content of this article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License