Alcalá de Henares, University city in Madrid metropolitan area, Spain
Alcalá de Henares is a municipality in the Madrid metropolitan area in Spain, known for its well-preserved old town filled with Renaissance and Baroque architecture. Narrow cobblestone lanes lead from one historic square to another, passing churches with tall bell towers and former monasteries that now house museums or public institutions.
Roman settlers founded Complutum in the 1st century BC at a crossroads of strategic roads between Zaragoza and Mérida. After Moorish occupation, Christian armies recaptured the fortress in 1118 and transformed it into an important religious and university center for the Spanish crown.
The main street retains its 12th-century arcade style, where residents shop and drink coffee beneath long rows of columns. On most evenings, students gather in the squares between university buildings that are still used for classes and administration, giving daily life an academic rhythm.
A walk from the train station to the historic center takes around 15 minutes through wide pedestrian zones with signs in multiple languages. Most sights sit close together within the old town, so visitors can reach everything on foot without needing public transport.
Storks return each spring to their nests on church towers and rooftops, often to the same structures their ancestors built decades earlier. Visitors can watch the birds feeding their young while walking through the old town streets, especially from April to August.
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