Alcalá de Henares claim to fame was its University, which was established by Cardinal Cisneros (confessor to Isabel II) in 1498, and which came to rival even that of Salamanca as the intellectual centre of Spain. Cervantes was born here and Calderón de la Barca, Lope de Vega and Ignacio Loyola all studied here during Spain’s Golden Age. The University was moved to Madrid in the 19th century and the city went into decline, which has been dramatically reversed since the University’s return to Alcalá some years ago. Now it’s an engaging, quietly affluent city scattered with plenty of opulent reminders of the glory days of the 16th and 17th centuries, like the Colegio de San Ildefonso. The charming main street, with its medieval arcades, excellent shops and overhanging houses leads to the delightful little Casa-Museo de Cervantes. Frequent buses take 50 mins with Continental Auto from Av de América 34, Metro Cartagena. Frequent trains take 40 mins from Atocha and Chamartín. Tren de Cervantes runs from Atocha to Alcalá de Henares on weekends from mid-Apr to mid-Jun, and late Sep until early Dec. Departs 1100 and returns at 1900. Colegio de San Ildefonso Plaza de San Diego, T 91 885 40 00. Guided visits only (hourly 1130-1330 and 1700-1900, more frequently at weekends). €2.10. The pale, splendid Colegio de San Ildefonso has an elaborate, graceful Plateresque façade and a magnificent great hall (Paraninfo) with a sumptuous, densely carved Mudéjar ceiling, where the ceremony for Spain’s most influential literary award, the Prix Cervantes, is held annually on 23 April. The University’s founder Cardinal Cisneros is buried in the beautiful chapel of San Ildefonso, which has another wonderful Renaissance artesonado ceiling and elaborately stuccoed walls. Casa-Museo de Cervantes Corner of C Mayor and C Imagen, T 91 889 96 54. Tue-Sun 1015-1330 and 1600-1815. Free. This is a reproduction of the house where Cervantes was born in 1547. His father was a bloodletter who worked in the neighbouring hospital (which is Spain’s oldest and still going strong). The rooms are arranged around a pretty, tiled patio with a quiet fountain and are filled with period furniture and rare old editions of Don Quixote.
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Barcelona - £7.99
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