Things to see and do Alcalá De Henares

Calle Mayor is the main shopping street of Alcalá de Henares. Bordered by porticoes, it is very rich in history. In the Middle Ages, it was the main axis of Juderia, the Jewish quarter. The first original wooden columns were then replaced in the 16th century by stone columns. There is the birthplace of Cervantes, which gives a fairly accurate idea of daily life in the 17th century, the Antezana hospital, founded in 1483 and one of the oldest in Europe, and the remains of the synagogue of medieval Juderia.

The great playwright Miguel de Cervantes was born on the 3rd of April 1547 in this house on the historic Calle Mayor. The visit retraces the author's childhood and the family's daily life between the 16th and 18th centuries. We can see a sewing room, the kitchen, the dining room, the boudoir, a surgeon's office (a profession practised by Cervantes' father), as well as lounges and bedrooms. The house also has an important bibliographic collection and numerous pieces of furniture and ceramics from the period. An interesting visit.

The baroque facade combines brick with stone. It has become a museum of religious art where, since 1997, the atmosphere of a Spanish cloister in the th century is re-established.