Meet Almagro, A Beautiful Town In Ciudad Real
Almagro can boast of being part of the select group of The Most Beautiful Towns of Spain. Its beauty and the importance of its historical-artistic complex stand out. This town of Ciudad Real is also known for hosting the famous International Classical Theater Festival in July.
What to visit in Almagro
The great jewel is the Plaza Mayor, which, inspired by the flamenco women and with a rectangular floor plan, is made up of several buildings: the Town Hall, which offers an elegant ashlar stone façade; houses that are arranged to the greater sides on arcades in two heights; the Corral de Comedias; the old church of Bartolomé and the Palacio Maestral.
The Palacio Maestral is a reflection of the importance that Almagro came to have. But it is not the only palace in the town. It is also necessary to mention the one of the Marquises of Torremejía; that of the Counts of Valparaíso; the Palace of the Medrano; that of the Oviedo family; that of the Fúcares; and that of the Marqués de Las Hormazas.
Regarding religious architecture, the church of the Madre de Dios stands out, in a late Gothic style with timid Renaissance nuances. And we must also mention the church of San Blas and that of San Nicolás, in which the baroque worldview is perfectly expressed.
Among the religious buildings, we must also mention the Asunción de Calatrava convent, which is the one with the most ambitious and spectacular architecture; or the convent of Nuestra Señora del Rosario, which became the Old Renaissance University.
Almagro’s theatrical commitment
Almagro is known especially throughout Spain for his interest in the performing arts. And it is that since 1978, every summer it celebrates the International Festival of Classical Theater, dedicated to the Baroque and the Golden Age. It also hosts the Ibero-American Festival of Contemporary Theater of Almagro and the Festival of University Creation of Almagro.
In this section, three buildings are of great importance, starting with the Corral de Comedias. This maintains the original structure of the theaters of the seventeenth century and is the only complete one from that time. Likewise, it was the setting for the dramaturgy of the Golden Age, with authors such as Lope de Vega or Calderón de la Barca.
The other buildings related to the theater are the Municipal Theater and the Hospital de San Juan de Dios. The first is in the neoclassical style, while the second is a recently built outdoor scenic space, so that works with more technical demands can be represented in it.
On the other hand, the National Theater Museum offers a journey through the history of the Performing Arts in Spain. Its visitors will be able to admire more than eight thousand works on paper, among which there are scenographies, costumes, drawings and prints; collections of paintings, sculptures, photographs, models, programs and costumes related to the theater.
The surroundings of Almagro
Almagro is located at the gates of Sierra Morena and its mythical enclaves : Cardeña, Despeñaperros, Andújar and the wonderful Natural Area of the Cascada de la Cimbarra, as well as the Valle de Alcudia Natural Park, which is home to populations of Iberian lynx, wolf , mountain goat … There is no other place in Europe where you can see so many endangered species.
Therefore, it has a privileged natural environment. Nearby we also find the La Mancha Húmeda Biosphere Reserve, articulated around two protected areas such as the Tablas de Daimiel and the Lagunas de Ruidera. The spectacular nature of its flora and fauna is not worth it.
Another place of interest in the surroundings of Almagro is the Campo de Calatrava, in which three immense fortresses rise: Alarcos, Calatrava la Nueva and Calatrava La Vieja; and in which giant volcanoes sleep already extinct. We must also mention the Montes de Ciudad Real Protected Area, which allows us to enter forests and places of incredible beauty more typical of the north of the country.
