Medinaceli
Member of Los Pueblos más Bonitos de España
Spain's only three-arched Roman gateway stands in Medinaceli, a hilltop town some 1,200 metres up, looking down on the Jalón valley. Some lanes are so narrow you can touch both walls with arms outstretched, and the large Plaza Mayor, laid over the Roman forum, is closed by the palace of the Dukes of Medinaceli. Some accounts say Almanzor died in its Moorish citadel in 1002.
Highlights
- The three-arched Roman arch, built between the 1st and 3rd centuries
- Plaza Mayor, a setting for Sergio Leone's 1971 film Giù la testa
- Colegiata de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, home of the Cristo de Medinaceli
- The medieval nevero, a half-buried store where packed snow kept food cool
- The Arab gate, one of the few surviving parts of the old walls
Text adapted from Wikipedia (Medinaceli (ES), Medinaceli (EN), Medinaceli (IT)). Available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Population: 686
Things to see
Events through the year
- Feast of Saint John
- Feast of Blessed Julián
- Fiesta de los Cuerpos SantosHonours martyrs whose relics, legend says, came on a flying camel
- Toro JubiloFire bull with burning tar balls on its horns in the Plaza Mayor
Dates follow the traditional patterns in our sources: check locally before you travel.
Adapted from Wikipedia (Medinaceli (IT), Medinaceli (ES)). Available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Translated and adapted from open data: Fiestas locales: Calendario de Fiestas de Carácter Local, Junta de Castilla y León (CC BY 4.0).
Specialities of Castile and León
Typical of the region rather than of this village.
- Lechazo asadoDish
- Cochinillo asado (ES)Dish
- Jamón de Guijuelo (ES)Cured meat
- Cecina de León (ES)Cured meat
- Botillo del Bierzo (ES)Cured meat
Adapted from Wikipedia (Gastronomía de Castilla y León). Available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where to sleep
8 places to stay within 3 km
- Hotels 7
- Campsites 1
Data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Nearby member villages
- Monteagudo de las Vicarías · 31 km
- Atienza · 37 km
- Berlanga de Duero · 48 km
- Hita · 64 km
- Valverde de los Arroyos · 67 km