Hoyos

Hoyos stands close to the old Roman silver road, the Ruta de la Plata, and shows traces of later Arab settlement too. It became part of the Kingdom of León and fell under the authority of the city of Coria. The town's darkest moment came on 29 August 1809, when French troops murdered the Bishop of Coria, Juan Álvarez de Castro, in his own palace here — he had publicly urged resistance to the French through his pastoral letters.

In 2024, Hoyos was designated a cultural asset with the status of Historic Site.

The parish church of Nuestra Señora del Buen Varón dates from the 15th and 16th centuries and shows three distinct architectural moments: a Romanesque main doorway, a second door in early Gothic style, and a third from the later Gothic period. The bell tower came later still, begun in 1603, finished in 1613, and inaugurated that October by the Bishop of Coria. Inside, there is a carved figure of the Virgin and a Baroque altarpiece attributed to José Benito de Churriguera. The remains of Bishop Juan Álvarez de Castro, killed by French troops in 1809, are buried somewhere within the church. In July 2018 the Junta de Extremadura declared it a protected monument. The town also has a second Catholic building, the Ermita del Cristo.

The Franciscan convent of the Espíritu Santo, built in the second half of the 16th century and possibly completed by 1641 — a date carved above the coat of arms of one Pablo Pérez — is today largely in ruins. Local tradition says it was founded by a small-time pig farmer from the area who sailed to the Americas with Pizarro, returned wealthy, and chose to spend his fortune building a hospital for the poor rather than let greedy acquaintances inherit it. Nuns later moved in and ran it as a medical house.