It was one of those days when you don't know where to travel but you feel like doing something different and you say, why not get to know the Madrid mountains? We then embarked on an adventure in which we could take advantage of the weekend to carry out active tourism and discover towns that we had not visited until then.< /p>
The towns that wind along these slopes have the gift of looking like small brushstrokes, framed in a painting by the best impressionist painter. The wealth that is concentrated in these lands goes beyond the common. She is the pretty girl from the northernmost area of the province of Madrid, although also the most forgotten. Luckily, the sudden boom in rural tourism in recent years has made this area awaken for its people and for everyone who had the pleasant opportunity to visit it.
Road and blanket and, provided with everything we needed, we had nothing left but to admire the beautiful movie that was projected behind the window of our small van. I can assure you that, at that precise moment, we were sure that the concept of any skeptic about the charm of Madrid would change, realizing that they were making a serious mistake.
We didn't want to throw away anything that this spectacular landscape gave us in each of the kilometers we left behind. Our first destination would be Aoslos, a small town (I can emphasize, tiny), located 84 km away. of Madrid, which owes its name to the Celtic culture. This area was, without a doubt, the main artery of passage and even today it is also the most represented in Madrid territory. Millions of animals passed through it, each year they wintered in the plains and valleys of Talavera, Guadalupe and Almadén.
We immediately passed this enclave with a curious name, which lay expectantly under the blanket of clouds that watched over us. It didn't take us long to reach Horcajo de la Sierra, a place located in the southern foothills of the Ayllón massif, belonging to Somosierra. Its name owes its origin to the geographical nature of this place: "horcajo" means the confluence of two rivers, in this case, the Madarquillos River with its tributary, the Valle de Las Moreras stream.
Horcajo is one of the first towns in the area; The choice of its location on a hill that dominates the main road to the north of the Peninsula suggests a defensive purpose, as well as livestock farming. One of its greatest treasures is theChurch of San Pedro in Cathedra, which was built in the 15th century, becoming part of the countless examples of the Gothic movement. It consists of a single nave with a high choir at the foot and a polygonal apse reinforced with buttresses on the outside. It has, inside, a 16th century Gothic altarpiece, which contains various Flemish panels, an image of Saint Peter and a tomb at the foot of the altar.
Next destination: Horcajuelo de la Sierra which, at 1,145 m. of altitude, it is governed by a diversity of small water channels, which make possible orchard and intensive pasture areas. Anyone who sees this latticework of culture and paving, as the base of its beautiful homes, cannot miss the Parish Church of San Nicolás de Bari, a baroque construction, with a Gothic chapel of the 15th century and the Ethnological Museum, which reproduces an old rural house typical of the area, as well as a small exhibition of typical costumes; all of this complemented by a forge and an art gallery.
We stopped to eat and enjoy the best flavor of the town, our meal would be crowned with a good plate of local cheese. You couldn't ask for more. Just a good coffee to continue our march. We headed, admiring as before the visual richness that the landscape offered us, towards Montejo de la Sierra, our next stop along the way. As soon as we left Horcajuelo, we saw how anyone who wants to eat can do so in a picnic area that is located next to the stream that surrounds the city. A perfect alternative to enjoy the outdoors with a good meal.
It didn't take us long to reach Montejo de la Sierra, a small town of no more than 300 inhabitants, which reaches 2,000 meters of altitude in some areas. With these data, we are told that the terrain is quite mountainous, a characteristic that appears accompanied by vegetation made up of extensive grasslands, deciduous and coniferous forests. In addition to having large areas of oaks and oaks, like the rest of the region, there is a beech forest of great interest, called Hayedo de Montejo, also associated with oaks and hollies.
We had little time left before the sky began to deprive us of the intense light that a cloudy day like the one we were experiencing offered us. So, we decided to continue with our journey and climb the Puerto de La Hiruela, whose municipal area belonged to the Community of Villa y Tierra de Buitrago, being the head of the Cuarto de las Cuatro Villas.
Once there and when dusk arrived, we admired the beauty of the sunset, which surrounded us. There was fresh air, and the cold began to appear in the place where, at such a height, we could feel like the kings of the world...
