The Castle of Manzanares el Real is one of the gems of Castilian Late Gothic (Isabelline). This unique style blends the Castilian, Flemish and mudéjar (Spanish Muslim) traditions, with a pinch of Italian influence. This was a period of transition between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in culture and the arts.
The castle is located in a wonderful natural environment between river Manzanares and the Sierra de Madrid mountains.
It was Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, I Duke of the Infantado, who in the mid-15th c., ordered the construction of the new Castle of Manzanares el Real.
His son Íñigo continued the project and hired Juan Guas, architect of Isabella and Ferdinand (the Catholic Kings).
The Mendoza family was one of the most prominent families of the time. The Duke’s brother was famous Cardinal Mendoza, who held key political and ecclesiastic positions during the reign of the Catholic Kings. They took part in the conquest of Granada and advocated the financing of Columbus’ voyages to America.
In Manzanares el Real there was already a castle, but the Duke wanted a new one, for which he reused materials of the old castle. The ruins of the old castle still stand on the other bank of river Manzanares.
This new castle signalled the arrival of Renaissance humanism: it was a fortress in its structure and noble palace in its decoration and interior, with large halls, a library, ball rooms and courtly balconies.
Diego Hurtado de Mendoza could enjoy his living for som years in his new castle, where he died in 1497.
His son Íñigo finished the work, but soon decided to move the main residence of the family to Guadalajara, where he built the famous Palacio del Infantado, quite reminiscent of the architecture of Manzanares el Real.
The Castle of Manzanares el Real had a short live, because the Mendozas abandoned it around 1530. Fortresses had lost their function with the new was technologies.
After centuries of neglect, the Castle of Manzanares el Real there were two major renovation works in 1919 and 1965 that restored its original grandeur. However, most of the interior rooms and decoration had been lost forever.
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How to arrive
Manzanares el Real is a village of 8500 population in the Community of Madrid. It is located 50 km North of Madrid city centre.
From Madrid, take road M-607 (Carretera de Colmenar), that starts in the North of the city, and once you reach Colmenar Viejo, take road M-609 and then M-608. It will take you around 40 min with light traffic.
By public transport: take regional bus 724 from Plaza de Castilla (where you can arrive by Metro lines 1,9 and 10 by several urban bus lines). The nearest stop to the castle is called “Fuente de las Ermitas“, on the main road, 300 metres from the castle. Manzanares el Real doesn’t have a suburban railway station.
On weekdays there is a bus every 30 min (every 15 min from 8 to 9:30 and 14:00 to 15:30). During weekends they are less frequent (every 45-50 min). You can check the bus timetable following this link.
The castle is very close to road M-608 and 300 metres from the main square of Manzanares el Real (Plaza del Pueblo). There is a parking lot behind the castle, across the ticket office.
Opening hours of the Castle of Manzanares el Real
If you want to visit the Castle of Manzanares el Real, it opens from 10:00 to 17:30 Tue-Fri and 10:00 to 18:00 Sat-Sun and bank holidays. It closes on Mondays and during some holidays (Jan 1 & 6, May 1, 14 Sep and 24, 25, 31 Dec). You should arrive at least one hour before closing time.
Entrance to the castle costs 5€.
If you only what to see the castle outside, the park around it opens 10:00 to 19:00 every day.
Exterior
The Castle of Manzanares el Real is the finest example of Late Gothic in the Community of Madrid and one of the most beautiful castles in Spain.
It was build with limestone and granite. Its most characteristic features are its crenellated towers and ornamental spheres, typical of
Several castles had been built in the area around Madrid, a border region, by Muslims and Christians alike. But none was like the new castle of Manzanares el Real.
This castle was both palace and fortress. It had a strategic position between river Manzanares and the mountains, but it also need the latest defensive technology.
One of its novelties its artillery battlement as first defensive line. This is a short thick wall with embrausures every few metres designed for cannons to fire through them. A gallery connects these openings to allow for swift movements of the defensive artillery along the walls.
Behind this short wall, there is a much taller second wall and even a third wall, detached to the main castle buildings. This third wall has a gallery with impressive views of the Manzanares valley and the mountains.
The castle is made up of three defensive towers and a square keep,which housed the main living areas of the castle: throne room, the private rooms of the dukes, a library and a chapel (which integrated the apse of an older church).
Walk round the castle and enter through its front door, between both round towers, and cross the bridge over the moat.
Interior
The ticket to visit the castle of Manzanares el Real costs 5€, and we honestly recommend it. The visit will take you at least 45 min, but you will probably spend more time, especially if you like taking pictures.
Even if the original castle rooms and its decoration have been lost, its Gothic-Renaissance courtyard and the views you will enjoy from the top of its innermost wall are absolutely worth it!
In the beginning of the tour, there is an exhibition about the castle’s history and the restoration works, and about life at the end of the 15th century, a time of transition between the mediaeval knightly ideals and Renaissance humanism.
Later, you will cross the marvellous porticoed courtyard that organises the space in the castle to enter the Duke’s rooms in its keep.
There are some interesting works of art in its rooms, like Flemish tapestries and a few pieces of the Dukes’ furniture, but in general, the decoration on display is not original.
The most interesting rooms are the dining room and especially the Ladies’ Dais, a room reserved for the castle’s women, up the stairs from the main hall.
The Flemish tapestries showing Julius Caesar on display in the Ladies’ Dais were not in the palace and they are actually from the 17th c. But anyway, the recreation of the Andalusian (Moorish) decoration, that became trendy in Castile at the time, is quite interesting.
Then, you will climb to the top floor of the keep, from with you will exit to the wall-walk.
From there you will enjoy a beautiful view of what was river Manzanares when the castle was built, and now is the Santillana Dam, built in 1907, that regulates the river and the channel that supplies water to Madrid.
It is also the best place to marvel at the intricate details of the carved decoration designed by Juan Guas.
Then, you will see the castle’s courtyard from above and the castle towers.
Behind the towers, lies the village of Manzanares el Real and La Pedriza, one of the most iconic rocky formations of the Sierra de Madrid mountains.
If you are into hiking, there are several tracks from Manzanares el Real. You can also walk around the dam, a very pleasant area where there is something like a beach.
We continued our road trip around the Sierra to Rascafría.
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