Alaejos

The origins of Alaejos are uncertain, but its early medieval name — Falafeios, a diminutive of the Moorish name Jalaf — points to roots in the period of Reconquista resettlement. One theory holds that it began as a village along the defensive frontier between the kingdoms of León and Castile, a boundary fixed at the River Trabancos by the treaty of Fresno-Lavandera. The parish belonged to the bishopric of Salamanca, and for a time the town was sold to Medina del Campo before passing to the jurisdiction of the bishop of Ávila, Alfonso de Fonseca.

Its most dramatic historical episode came when Juana of Portugal, wife of King Enrique IV, was held in Alaejos castle on the king's orders, under the watch of Archbishop Alonso de Fonseca y Ulloa. During her confinement she began a relationship with the archbishop's nephew, Pedro de Castilla y Fonseca, a great-grandson of King Pedro I, and the two had twin sons.

In 1520, during the War of the Communities, the Comuneros destroyed much of the town. Later in the century, in 1595, Alaejos joined the new bishopric of Valladolid, though administratively it continued to answer to the province of Segovia. By the late 18th century it was active enough in Enlightenment ideas to establish, in 1785, the Real Sociedad Caritativo Económica, an institution that pursued advanced work in economics, social welfare and education.

The Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) left deep wounds. The historian Ignacio Martín Jiménez, in his 2000 book La Guerra Civil en Valladolid, records around fifty deaths attributed to the Nationalist side in the early months of fighting. Victims on the Republican side included people from all walks of life: a potter known as Brígida Pérez, the mayor Antonio Losada, a cloth merchant, a farmworker, a cantina keeper, and two schoolteachers. Their stories are documented in a chronicle by Nazaria Gabriela Hernández and in a community-made record called Silencios Rotos. In 2009, the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory installed a plaque in the municipal cemetery in their honour.

In 1997, the Junta de Castilla y León designated the town's historic core a conjunto histórico, a protected cultural heritage site.

Alaejos has two substantial parish churches facing each other across the town, both declared Historic-Artistic Monuments, and both worth extended time.

The church of San Pedro stands on the Plaza Mayor. Built in a mixture of Gothic and Renaissance styles, it uses brick as its main material, with plasterwork and Mudéjar tile decoration. Outside, two doorways frame a four-storey tower topped by a small dome. Inside, the three-nave hall plan puts the central nave higher than the flanking aisles. The high altarpiece, by Juan Sáez de la Torrecilla, carries reliefs and scenes of the Passion. Elsewhere in the church there are further altarpieces, a 29-seat walnut choir with a lectern enclosed by ironwork grille, and a Baroque organ. Recent restoration work has uncovered grisaille paintings and other details that had been hidden.

The church of Santa María, off the Plaza Mayor on the square of the same name, is Renaissance and built primarily in brick with lime-and-gypsum mortar. Its tower is a remarkable structure — four storeys rising to about 64 metres, with a slender turret on top. The interior follows the same hall-church layout as San Pedro: three naves of similar height, covered with ribbed vaults and a Mudéjar-Renaissance timber structure. The highlight is the high altarpiece by Esteban Jordán, dedicated to the Assumption of Mary and influenced by Italian Romanism. Baroque side altarpieces fill the rest of the space. Santa María also houses the Museo Interparroquial de Arte Sacro, two rooms displaying sculpture, painting and goldsmith work from both parishes. Admission costs €0.60; in summer, opening hours follow those of the tourist office, and in winter visits can be arranged through the parish priest.

The castle has largely disappeared, but its remains at the edge of town toward Salamanca are the setting for a Colección Etnográfica displaying over a thousand objects from vanished trades and everyday domestic life.

Outside town, on a low hill between Alaejos and Siete Iglesias de Trabancos, stands the Ermita de la Virgen de la Casita. Legend ties its foundation to a woman named Catalina de la Cruz who prayed for rain during a drought; she is said to be buried inside. The hermitage has three naves, a flat timber-beamed ceiling over the central aisle, barrel-vaulted side aisles, and an elliptical dome on pendentives. Inside is a Gothic figure of the Virgin, dressed in robes since the 16th century. The ermita is open at weekends.

The town hall on the Plaza Mayor and five heraldic houses — among them the Casa del Inquisidor, the Casa del Marqués de Gastañaga, and the Casa de los Beneficiados de Santa María — add further architectural interest to the historic centre.