Madridejos

Is a center of the province of Toledo (Castilla La Mancha). Of Roman and Arab roots, during the course of the twelfth century Madridejos fell under the control of the Order of San Juan, finally achieving its independence in 1557. During the sixteenth century it underwent a remarkable demographic and economic growth (both in farming and in agriculture), which allowed for the construction of the main baroque buildings, both civil and religious, in the following century. Among possible examples, we recall the foundation of a Dominican convent in 1596, a Franciscan convent in the early seventeenth century and another of Franciscan Poor Clares in the middle of the seventeenth century. The streets and squares were remodeled in the Baroque and still retain the look and splendor of the era. In later centuries, Madridejos was the scene of many tragic events, such as the War of the Spanish Succession in the early eighteenth century, the war of independence against the French troops a century later and the civil war in the thirties of the twentieth century: most of its Baroque architecture was severely damaged.