Alcala de Henares Attractions

The old town of Alcalá de Henares, rebuilt after severe destruction during the Civil War, lies some 30km/20mi east of Madrid on the left bank of the Río Henares. It was the Roman Complutum and the Moorish al-Kal'a.

History

The town was the birthplace of Cervantes and the Emperor Ferdinand I. It had a famous university, founded by Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros in 1498, where the first polyglot Bible in Europe was published in 1517. The university was moved to Madrid in 1836, and thereafter the town lost much of its importance. Alcalá de Henares suffered severe devastation during the Civil War.