Carranque

Carranque is in the La Sacra region of Toledo province, less than an hour from Madrid. Its Archaeological Park takes you back to Roman times.

The Carranque Archaeological Park is one of the most important and best conserved of Spain's Roman sites. It was discovered in 1983 on the right-hand bank of the Guadarrama River and has an impressive collection of mosaics. You can also see a villa and a building with basilical layout that date from the 4th century AD. The villa has a quadrangular plan and its rooms are distributed around a courtyard with a peristyle; while the “basilica” consists of five naves and was rebuilt by the Visigoths and the Benedictine monks of Cluny as a monastery. In Carranque town centre, on the Camino de Casarrubios, it is also worth visiting the hermitage of San Dimas, a 19th-century structure with prominent semicircular windows. On 8 September, the festivals of Cristo de la Fe are held, a fine opportunity to enjoy the region's cuisine and folklore.