A nice place in Guadalajara (Spain).

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"La Alcarria es un hermoso país dónde la gente no le da la gana ir". "Travel to Alcarria", C.J. Cela, Literature Nobel Awards. It means "The Alcarria is a nice country where people do not want to go". Really I do not know why. The Alcarria is an undiscovered country.

Tendilla is placed in the Alcarria (Province of Guadalajara, in the middle of Castilla, Spain) being the landscape, its closeness to Madrid (80 km), the fresh air and the cultural scene some reasons to visit Tendilla. If you want, you must take Hiway N-II from Madrid to Barcelona, at Guadalajara take Road N-320 and follow it until the first village. You are in Tendilla.

Tendilla is in a mountainous area, with a nice landscape and many places for trekking. It has a pine forest and a small water meadow. This proximity has not been too much modifyed by the man. And beacuse of the hills and mountains we do not need air conditionning in summer. Physically Tendilla is located in the bottom of a narrow and long valley between mountains (like a "long pork sausage").

Typical food are lamb, goat, honey (one of the best is the honey of Alcarria) and typical "bizcochos borrachos" (cakes with sweet vine, fantastic).

Tendilla was a part of the homeland of the Conde (Earl) of Tendilla (from the Mendoza dinasty, very important from the XIV to the XVI Centuries: politics, war-mans, poets and lovers, Lords of Santillana, Tendilla and Manzanares ). Here, there was a very important Fair (cattle, agricultural, wool, spices, craftmanship and market meeting) at the end of February, from the XIV Century until the beggining of XX Century. Traders from outside Spain came at the XVI Century to this Fair. Because the winter rain (it may snow) and cold, this Fair was placed under the "soportales". "Soportales" means a colonnade (but in Tendilla is 2 km long!) to cover up the Fair. Some colonns are made in stone, some in wood, and most of the houses are covering the street by "soportales".

In the Middle Ages there was a jews quarter, a moorish quarter and many industry. The expulsion from Spain of the jews and moorish, Sucesion war (about 1710), Napoleon war (1809) and filoxera pest (against grapes) become the Alcarria (and Tendilla) poor. From 600 houses and 2800 people in XVI Century, population becomes 165 houses and 752 people in the XVIII Centiry. Now agriculture, cattle and turism are the main richness of Alcarria.

Very close to Tendilla we found archeologic ruins, as the old Convento (monastery) of La Salceda and Convento of Santa Ana. There was a castle and you may see in the main square of Tendilla the not finished Church (XVI to XVIII Centuries), a Barroque Palace (XVIII century) in the main street, some old houses with coats of arms and the old fountain of the Mendozas, made in stone. Visit the Ethnographycal Museum!

Many of the stones of the old castle and convents were "recycled" many years ago by the people of Tendilla and can be seen in the front of some houses, the colonnery ("soportales") or inside the houses. Even, the altarpiece of the Convento de Santa Ana was sold and now is in the Cincinnati Art Museum (USA). The mausoleum of the Counts of Tendilla was moved and now is at San Gines Church in Guadalajara city.

A funny thing happened to the Literature Nobel Award C.J. Cela in his travel around the Alcarria. He was bitten by a dog in his leg and bitten by a duck in his ass. However, the food he eaten was very good and he has a happy memory of Tendilla.

There are an antiques shop, furnitures shop, ceramics and pottery shop, car repairing, public pool, Cakes and Sweets hand made shop, ham and sausage factory, three restaurants, some spanish-pubs and two little hotels.

If you want to watch some pictures of Tendilla, click-on where you want: From the sky, looking from East to West and from the Nort hill loking toward South.

From the South hill looking toward North and from the Water-Tank looking toward West.

References.

• Tendilla: Historia y Arte. Antonio Herrera Casado. Aache Ediciones (1994).
• Tendilla: Crónica de un Tiempo Pasado. Víctor Vázquez Aybar. Author's edition (2003).
• Monasterios Medievales de Guadalajara. Antonio Herrera Casado. Aache Ediciones (1997).
• La Alcarria. J. Serrano Belinchón. Ed. Everest (1988).
• "El paisaje de las Alcarrias de Horche". Miguel Agulló Alonso, Wad-al-Hayara vol. 10 (1983) pag 257-279.
• Antonio Pérez. Gregorio Marañon. Espasa-Calpe (ed. 1958).
• Guadalajara y Baroja. José Esteban. Ediciones Rayuela, Sigüenza (1992).
• Viaje a la Alcarria. Camilo J. Cela, 1948. Col. Austral de Espasa Calpe (primera ed. 1952).
• Nuevo Viaje a la Alcarria. Camilo J. Cela, 1986. Obras Completas. Ed. Destino (1990).
• Patrimonio Desaparecido de Guadalajara. José Luis García de Paz. Aache Ediciones (2003).

Good bye. Have a good trip. Please, come back.

Written by J.L.G. de Paz / depaz@uam.es / Original version, January 1996. Last modification October, 5th 2003.

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