The best traffic-free bike rides around Santa Cruz De La Zarza

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 final stretch of the Nature Trail is an uncomfortable leg-breaker. The route crosses the river and continues through the Tajo valley to the Fuentemaría stream ravine. The first slope saves the slope of the hill of the hermitage of the Virgin of Alarilla, a strategic hill occupied in other times by a watchtower on the old border between Arabs and Christians. The detour is worth it to enjoy the views of the immense alluvial plain of the Tagus River. The posts continue along the main track and sink again between esparto grass hills and steppe hills to the Higuerillas stream, they cross another slope and fall into the Vallehermoso stream canyon. The exit from the ravine is a steep wall along an impeccable dirt track and finally the sign for the end of the Natural Trail appears on the border with the province of Toledo. The royal canyon continues towards Santa Cruz de la Zarza. The route continues two kilometers along the livestock route and turns to the right along agricultural roads in search of the Tagus valley. In this section there are no milestones or cycling route markings and it is advisable to follow the track.

The Fuentidueña de Tajo bridge is an engineering work from the mid-19th century that restored the passage through this river on the way to Cuenca. It is the oldest large metal bridge in Madrid. This work allowed communications to be modernized at the time of its execution.

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.