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Practically all the peoples that, throughout history, have settled in the Iberian Peninsula have left traces of their civilization and culture, more or less significant, in the territory currently occupied by the province of Guadalajara. This territory, given its strategic geographical location between the upper and lower plateaus, between the Tagus and Ebro basins, between the Central and Iberian orographic systems and, ultimately, being located in the geographic epicenter of the Iberian Peninsula, has historically been a land of passage.



There is notable evidence of the presence of prehistoric men in the province in La Cueva de los Casares (Riba de Saelices) and La Hoz (Santa María del Espino), especially in the former, since almost two hundred engravings are gathered on its walls. Palaeolithic cave paintings with a minimum age of 15,000 years and a maximum of 25,000, even before the famous paintings of Altamira. Arévacos and Lusones settled in the north of the province, the first to the NW and the second to the NE, where the Celtiberians themselves also settled. Carpetanos and Oretanos, Iberian peoples of progressive Celtic influence, were located in the rest of the provincial territory, especially along the banks of the Jarama, Henares and Tajuña rivers. Especially from the Iron Age archaeological sites of Celtiberian origin appear in large areas of the territory of Guadalajara, such as necropolis, forts, camps, etc.

The passage of the Romans

Roman civilization and culture also left traces of their passage, more of transit than of large settlements, through these lands, through which, through the Henares valley, the Via Domiciana that linked Emerita Augusta (Mérida) with Caesare Augusta ( Saragossa). Remains of this road, as well as the one that from the Tagus, at the height of Trillo, connected with the Henares in Sigüenza (the Roman Segontia), bridges, remains of ´´villaes´´, mosaics, etc. they compose the material evidence that remains of the Romanization in these lands.



Of the passage of the Visigoths through this territory there is not much evidence, although it is very significant: the archaeological site of Recópolis, the great city that Leovigildo erected in honor of his son Recaredo, next to the Tagus, in what is now the town of Zorita of the Dogs.

Arab footprints

The culture and the Arab people left their mark on these lands, especially in the major and minor toponymy of their inhabited nuclei and geography, to the point that the capital and the province itself are nominated based on the voice ´´Wad-al- Hayara´´ which comes to mean ´´Río de Piedras´´. The current territory of Guadalajara, acquired special importance during the Arab domination when it became the ´´capital´´ of the Middle Brand of Al Andalus, sharing this territorial capital with the Soriana lands of Medinaceli.



There are few remains of Arab architecture and art in these lands: parts of some alcazabas, such as that of Molina de Aragón, doors of some Christian temples, built by the Mudejars, the most significant of which is the Church-Co-Cathedral of Santa María, in Guadalajara, and urban traces in some towns such as Pastrana, Hita, etc. On the contrary, within the Hispanic-Arab culture, Guadalajara has the honor of having been the birthplace or home of poets such as Ahmed-ben-Schalaf, historians such as Abdallah-ben-Ibrahim and geographers such as Abu-Zacharia.

Reconquest by Alvarfañez de Minaya

In 1085, the city of Guadalajara was reconquered from the Muslims by Alvarfáñez de Minaya and became dependent on the Crown of Castile and, a century later, the entire provincial territory already belonged to the Castilian kingdom. It is precisely in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, thanks to the repopulation of people from the north - Castilians from the mountains and the Merindades, Basques and Navarrese, fundamentally - when in what is now the province of Guadalajara the population is ordered in the territory, being divided into numerous inhabited nuclei, although with few inhabitants, except for those that had already been established and settled as communities in previous centuries.



It is in these same centuries when, thanks to the strength and vigor of the Castilian Villa and Tierra Commons -among which those of Guadalajara, Molina, Cifuentes, Atienza, Brihuega, Cogolludo, Uceda, Jadraque, Hita, Beleña and Zorita stood out- , the living conditions of the inhabitants of these lands improve and culture and art are promoted, being born in these lands or being inspired by them ´´El Cantar de Mío Cid´´, some verse by Gonzalo de Berceo, some ´´Cantiga de Santa María´´, by Alfonso X El Sabio, and ´´El Libro de Buen Amor´´, by the Archpriest of Hita.



Likewise, it is in these centuries when numerous Romanesque churches were erected throughout the territory of Guadalajara, especially in the north, constituting as a whole - more than 100 temples of Romanesque origin still survive in the province - in a peculiar style called ´´Románico Rural´ ´, whose best examples can be found in Atienza, Sigüenza, Campisábalos, Albendiego, Pinilla de Jadraque, Saúca, Carabias, etc. Four important monasterial foundations of the Císter -Bonaval (Retiendas), Monsalud (Córcoles), Buenafuente del Sistal (Villar de Cobeta) and Santa María de Ovila (Trillo) - emerged at this time in the territory that today occupies Guadalajara.

Land of castles

Taking advantage of old Arab watchtowers and fortresses or emerging new ones in strategic points, it is also between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries when, mainly, the land of Guadalajara is populated with castles and towers, among which those of Sigüenza (today the Parador Nacional de Turismo ), Molina de Aragón, Atienza, Torija, Zorita de los Canes, Cifuentes, Corduente, Embid, Establés, Riba de Santiuste, Guijosa and Pelegrina, among many others, and those of Jadraque and Pioz, later.

The Renaissance

The maximum demographic and socio-cultural splendor of what is now Guadalajara was reached in the 15th and 16th centuries, under the power and influence of the great Mendoza family, among whose most notable members are the Marquis of Santillana -author of the ´´Serranillas´´- and Cardinal Mendoza. The Mendoza family, from which important patrons of art and culture emerge, ordered the construction of the Infantado Palace in Guadalajara, the most representative example of civil Elizabethan Gothic in all of Spain. Likewise, from the protective hand of this family, the Renaissance came to our country from Italy, whose best architectural examples are in the Palace of the Dukes of Medinaceli (Cogolludo) and the Palace of Don Antonio de Mendoza (Guadalajara).







Get to know Guadalajara

The province of Guadalajara comprises a large territory in the heart of the Castilian plateau. With two hundred and eighty-eight municipalities and more than four hundred population centers, it is divided into four natural regions perfectly defined by history, geography, culture, traditions and territory: La Campiña, La Alcarria, La Sierra and Señorío de Molina.



The diversity in landscapes, architecture, popular and cultural traditions defines a province located in the geographic center of the Spanish territory, with three natural parks, with the Tagus River as the great river artery, with a notable presence of impressive castles and fortifications along of its towns, with a very varied and complete repertoire of archaeological sites in Celtiberia and with an enormous attraction for nature tourism due to its virgin landscapes and perfectly preserved for centuries.



Guadalajara is a province defined by the diversity of its lands, by the artistic and monumental appeal of its towns, by medieval towns and cities and by its commitment to nature and its small rural towns that allow permanent contact with essences and traditions more deeply rooted in rural Spain



Guadalajara, city and municipality of the Autonomous Community of Castilla-La Mancha, capital of the province that bears his name, is located in central Spain, northeast of Madrid, at one end of the Henares industrial corridor and on the route that takes from Madrid to Zaragoza and Barcelona.



The city, between 675 and 710 m above sea level, is located on the dividing line formed by the Henares and Tajuña rivers, between two natural regions, La Campiña, to the northwest, and La Alcarria, to the southeast.



The municipality occupies an area of ​​267.5 km2. In 2008 it has more than 80,000 inhabitants.



Culture

Museums



Guadalajara Provincial Museum.



Festivities [edit]



Carnival in Guadalajara. (Festival of Provincial Tourist Interest)

Holy Week. (Festival of Regional Tourist Interest)

Procession of the Apostles (Corpus Christi. Dating from the 15th century) (Festival of Provincial Tourist Interest)

Patron saint festivities of the Virgen de la Antigua (8-IX)

Fairs and Festivities (Mid-September) (Festival of Provincial Tourist Interest)

Tenorio Mendocino, weekend closest to November 1. (Festival of Provincial Tourist Interest)



Parks and natural landscapes

Main avenue of Parque de la Concordia



Guadalajara has five great green lungs:



Parque de la Constitución, at the entrance of which is the Puerta de la Constitución.

Parque de la Concordia, in the heart of the city.

Friendship Park.

San Roque Park.

Las Lomas Park.

Barranco del Alamín linear park



In addition, the city is surrounded by outstanding natural landscapes:



El Sotillo, a recreational area next to the Villaflores Town at the Cañada Real de las Matas pass.

El Clavín, with caves and a panoramic view of the city and the Henares valley.

Finca de Castillejos, a riverside forest next to the Henares river.

Peña Hueva and Pico del Águila, between Taracena and Valdenoches.







Vegetation

The geographic space of the province of Guadalajara presents a great variety of plant landscapes, the result of the combination of ecological and anthropic factors.



The provincial territory comprises 1,219,040 hectares, 24.7 percent of this area being wooded mass, with 145,585 hectares of conifers and 155,775 hectares of hardwoods.



Within the arboreal masses of LANDSCAPES and substitution scrubs, the following formations can be distinguished:



Holm oaks (Quercus rotundifolia):

The holm oak covers the entire provincial space with 63,480 hectares, except for certain higher altitude enclaves. In some areas, the holm oak forest has yielded its natural space to rainfed crops or pine reforestation. It constitutes arboreal formations accompanied by bushes such as rosemary, rockrose, thyme, lavender, lavender and sage.



COMPLAINTS (Quercus faginea):

Alternating with holm oaks and junipers, the province has a large area of ​​gall oaks, 40,387 hectares, especially in lands between 800 and 1,200 meters of altitude. They appear accompanied by rowan trees and thorny bushes.



MELOJARES (Quercus pyrenaica):

Pyrenean oaks occupy a smaller area and are largely modified and degraded. They appear above all in the Ayllón massif and in the neighboring mountains of the province. Pyrenean oak is usually accompanied by holly, rowan and in the clear areas of the forests by heather and jarales.



HAYEDO (Fagus sylvatica):

The beech forests have been reduced to the Sierra de Ayllón, mainly in the Tejera Negra Natural Park, with comprehensive protection.



Among the masses of CONÍFERAS these formations are distinguished:



PINARES:

They occupy a large area of ​​the province, the result of an intense policy of repopulation that has led on numerous occasions to the replacement of the leafy stands. There are numerous existing pine species, the most abundant is the black pine (Pinus nigra) that predominates in the northwest of the province. Second is the resin pine (Pinus pinaster), especially present in mountainous areas of Molina de Aragón. The Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), extends through the northwestern and southeastern sector of the province, while the Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis), presents isolated spots to the south of the province.



SABINARES:

The sabina albar is the genuine forest of the moors of Guadalajara. It occupies the flat plateaus (100-1400mt) and the slopes exposed to the most rigorous climatic conditions. In the municipality of Toremocha del Pinar a magnificently preserved juniper is located, and in more precarious conditions, a Sabinar formation also appears in Tamajón.



RIBERA VEGETATION

In addition to these forest formations, the banks of the numerous rivers that cross the province are present species as significant as ash, elm, alder, birch, which develop along with reeds and reeds.



NATURAL PROTECTED AREAS

The great diversity of ecosystems and the good state of general conservation of the rural environment, which has been possible thanks to a low demographic density, have allowed the declaration with different protection figures of 50% of the surface of the province of Guadalajara.



Currently there are the following protection figures



Three declared Natural Parks, Hayedo de Tejera Negra, Alto Tajo and Barranco del Río Dulce and one in the process of being declared the Sierra Norte de Guadalajara.



Two Nature Reserves: Lagunas de Puebla de Beleña and Massif Pico del Lobo Cebollera.



Two Fluvial Reserves are the Pelagallinas and Sotos del Tajo rivers.



Six Micro-Reserves of: Cerros Margosos de Pastrana and Yebra, Cerros Volcánicos de la Miñosa, Cuevas de la Canaleja and de los Murcielagos, Wet Meadows of Torremocha del Pinar and Saladares of the Salado River Basin.



Three Natural Monuments are those of Tetas de Viana, Sierra de Caldereros and Sierra de la Pela and Laguna de Somolinos.



In addition, Places of Community Interest (SCIs) and Special Bird Protection Areas (ZEPAs) that make up the Natura 2000 Network.

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