Mondéjar

Location

Mondéjar lies 42 kilometres from the capital of Guadalajara at an altitude of 799 metres above sea level.

Tourist information

Mondéjar Town Hall. Tel: (+34) 949 385 001
Guadalajara Tourism Office. Plz. De los Caidos, 6 (+34) 949 211 626 turismoguadalajara@hotmail.com

How to get there

Road transport

The town of Mondéjar lies on an area of irregular land and the cemetery is perched on the highest point. The surrounding land offers a general view of the town and its sites.
The Parish Church of Santa María Magadalena (Saint Mary Magdalene) in the Plaza Mayor (Main Square) is surrounded by 19th-century buildings with arcades. It was declared a monument in 1931. It is Gothic in style from the first thirty years of the 16th century and was built by Cristóbal Nicolás de Andoza following the structure of the Capilla Real (Royal Chapel) in Granada. The church has three 35-metre-long naves which are separated by pointed arches and have a cross vault. Outside are two plateresque doorways. The sacristy has become home to a small parish museum, some of the highlights of which are a 1550 processional cross by a silversmith named Juan Francisco, a Baroque monstrance and an embroidered liturgical garment known as the “terno rico” or the “terno de los Apóstoles”.
In the outskirts are the ruins of the Convent of San Antonio (Saint Anthony) which were declared a monument in 1921. The convent was founded by Don Íñigo López de Mendoza at the end of the 15th century and was built between the end of that century and the beginning of the following one. Remains exist of the façade and the gable end of the chevet, and the covered archivolt doorway.
The Chapel of San Sebastián (Saint Sebastian), which dominates the village, dates from the beginning of the 16th century. A highlight inside is the crypt or Cueva de los Judíos (Vault of Jews) with floats representing the Passion of Christ with polychrome plaster statues in vivid colours which were restored in 1973. we know that they are more than four centuries old as they are documented as far back as 1581.
Of the old wall which once surrounded the town there are only isolated remains of cut stone.
The marquis’ palace, a building of which practically nothing remains though we can still see stones of an arch and Serlian dressed stone, had clear mannerist characteristics.

Special trips in Mondéjar

- 16th-century Gothic and Renaissance Church of Santa María Magdalena (Saint Mary Magdalene)
- 15th-century plateresque Convent of San Antonio (Saint Anthony), which was declared a National Monument in 1921.
- The Marquis’ Palace of the Mendozas, of which there are a few Renaissance remains.
- 16th-century Chapel of San Sebastián (Saint Sebastian) where there is a representation of the Passion of Christ known as “Los Judíos” (The Jews).
- In the area around the Chapel of San Sebastián is a view of the whole town.
- Hospital de San Juan from the end of the 16th century.
- Festivities in honour of the Patron Saint on 13th and 14th September.
- Flora & Fauna:
* Common species.
* Holm oak woods and isolated pine groves, vineyards, olive groves, dry farming and small vegetable gardens.