An escape to the Roman Empire
Discover, in Madrid, an incomparable historical, cultural and gastronomic legacy.
Roman City of Complutum. Alcalá de Henares
Would you like to complement your trip to the Tablaos Flamencos of Madrid with history and culture? We propose a surprising tour to discover the Roman legacy of the ancient Roman city of Complutum of Alcalá de Henares.
Alcalá de Henares is located only 20 km from Madrid, recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage City in 1998, standing out for being the first city designed and built especially as the seat of a university and for symbolizing the ideal city, the city of God (civitas Dei), which materialized through its convents and university colleges.
And it is that the city that was home to one of our most universal writers, Miguel de Cervantes was centuries before one of the Roman sites of the Iberian Peninsula. It is for this reason that, when we walk through this city, we are surrounded by a historical and cultural environment of the first line.
Roman Mosaic of Bacchus. Regional Archaeological Museum. Alcalá de Henares
The Roman city of Complutum began in the first century BC, and it was in the time of Emperor Augustus when an urban project was built following the deep knowledge that Greeks and Romans had of urban planning. To get to know the Roman legacy of the ancient Complutum, we recommend the following route Roman Alcalá step by step. It is a route of 6.5 km with an approximate duration of 8 hours, with stops at sites such as The Roman House of Hippolytu The Roman House of Hippolytus, the Forum and Regius II of Complutum, a sample of the remains of the forum, the civil basilica, the baths and the market, the Roman House of the Grifos, a stately urban dwelling, which houses a very important collection of mural painting considered the best collection of Roman mural painting of the peninsula, the Magistral Cathedral, which includes the climb to its tower, the Regional Archaeological Museum, where you can see from paleontological fossils to the archeology of the industrial era, and the Roman Villa del Val.
Olive harvesting in José Carlos Velasco's olive grove in the southeast of Region of Madrid.
In addition, you will be pleased to know that the Roman Empire left a clear mark on our gastronomy. The "Mediterranean triad", wheat, vine and olive tree, was the basis of the Mediterranean diet at the time of the Roman Empire, and it is precisely in this area of Madrid where we currently have olive groves, vineyards and cereal fields that serve as testimony to the history of this region. Surely you will have the opportunity to taste products from Alcalá de Henares and surroundings in one of our tablaos, and here you can corroborate it.
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