The best MTB trails around Illana

The Monastery welcomes you at the top of the village with a stunning view from the road leading to Uclés. After a long bike ride, it is a good reward.

Built by the Order of Santiago, construction began in 1529 while Charles I reigned and was completed in 1735 under the reign of Philip V. Monumental construction that leaves no one indifferent, and that during the civil war was first a hospital for one side and later a prison for the other. You can visit it by paying an entrance fee and it is no longer used as a guest house because only one monk lives there, who possibly does not reside there at the time I write this chronicle.

This spectacular building built by the Order of Santiago is the end of the route or pilgrimage path that starts from the Church of Santiago in Madrid, and is usually done by numerous pilgrims both on foot and by bike.

The fountain, like all the architecture of the place, is a beautiful carved stone with its metal decorations that inexorably suffer the passage of time.

Fuentidueña de Tajo Kilometer 0 The ruins of the castle reveal the strategic town of Fuentidueña de Tajo on the river bank, a passageway for important communication routes since Roman times. In the Middle Ages, the Via del Esparto was very popular, one of the most valuable products in those times in the Las Vegas region, which ran on a primitive Roman road and reached Esparteros Street, in the center of Madrid. On the way up from the castle is the Fuente de la Dueña or Fuente Salobre, it is a limestone pylon rebuilt in the 19th century and a key link in the historical foundations of Fuentidueña. The “owner” of the fountain and responsible for the name was Doña Urraca, lady of the fortress for a time, formerly called Santiago due to its connection with the order and popularly known as Torre de Piquillos, a few ruins on the hill where the fountain springs. spring. The old watchtower, the fountain, the church of San Andrés and the Plaza de la Constitución, where the Clock Tower is located, make up a valuable heritage complex in one of the most important passes of the Cañada Real Soriana Oriental in the Tagus Valley. The livestock route crosses the Tagus Natural Trail in the streets of Fuentidueña, crosses the town to the river bank and changes banks over a historic iron bridge from the 19th century. The Tagus Bridge is a magnificent work of civil engineering inaugurated in 1867. The designer of the project was the architect José de Echevarría, who sought collaborators in France within the Eiffiel team and used riveted iron beams to build a solid bridge in a fundamental step of the Tajo plain, in the transit of the Cañada Real Soriana Oriental and the Camino Real de Valencia, an ancient Post Road and route of peasants and merchants since the Early Middle Ages. The first mechanical means to cross the Tagus riverbed was a rope boat, later replaced by a rope bridge to withstand unforeseen floods, but it was destroyed by General Prim's troops in the 19th century.

The brackish water spring that flows behind the church and the fact that it was under the rule of Doña Urraca, queen of León, give it the name Fuentidueña (Source of the Owner). This town was already important in Al Andalus, since it had a castle. During the reconquest, the castle of Santiago was built, under the military order of the same name, which led the advance and defended the square. Although the castle is in ruins, its proximity to the Tagus and its orchard give it a special charm.

Yebra is a small town of only about 500 inhabitants. In the center of town there is a nice fountain and a bar to eat something when you go mountain biking.

Castle that is located in one of the highest parts of the same nucleus and that gave the beginnings of what is currently Fuentidueña de Tajo. From the top, you can see some good views of the area.