If you have a fondness for discovering hidden places in Madrid, you may know El Alamín, which we already told you about in this article where we tell you four horror stories. This abandoned town is just one of many that the emptied Spain has left to remember, others like Navalquejigo are now squatted towns.
But as with all that is abandoned, soon ghost stories and legends flourish beyond repair. Needless travel to a castle to discover a horror story hidden between four walls, nor stray too far from the capital to find a town in Madrid that hides a terrifying legend.
Pelayos de la presa, an unknown town in Madrid ideal for living
The first settlements date back to the Neolithic in the Dehesa de la Enfermería, where cave paintings have been found, but Pelayos de la Presa has been very close to becoming another of the emptied towns in Spain, as happened with this in Zaragoza.
Pelayos de la Presa is located to the southwest of Madrid and every day it is adding inhabitants thanks to the price of its rentals, to how well connected it is (just 40 minutes from Madrid capital) and the fact that it is located in a fantastic natural environment, with the San Juan reservoir very close, which ensures nature in abundance .
All this makes it the perfect place to live… if you’re not afraid of ghost stories. Pelayos de la Presa hides one that dates back to the 16th century and that is worthy of the best Halloween.
The monastery of Pelayos de la presa and its fantastic ghost story
The monastery of Santa María la Real de Valdeiglesias, the oldest in the Community of MadridIt seems that it has been forgotten after almost a thousand years of history. The original building was built in the 12th century in a Romanesque-Mudejar style. Its enclosure includes the Mozarabic chapel, the church, the cloister and the galleries, and over the years it has ended up being a unique mixture of Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and possibly Mozarabic styles.
Built thanks to Alfonso VII the Emperor, King of León, who granted the Benedictine monks the Royal Foundation Privilege in 1150, the town grew in the shadow of the monastery that, in the 16th century, was sold to the Marquis de la Nava. The 19th century arrived and with it, the confiscation that caused the monastery to be dismantled and sold to private individuals.
Its recovery began in 1973 when the architect Mariano García Benito bought it for about 12 million pesetas and in 1984 it was declared a National Historical Monument. Now, in the hands of the Fundación Monasterio Santa María la Real de Valdeiglesias, you can visit it (you have guided tours and even theatrical tours at some times that you can check on their website) and you can celebrate weddings in it and events.
But if he is known for something the monastery of Santa María la Real de Valdeiglesias is because it hides a ghost story that is still chilling today and that Mariano García Benito himself told in an interview.
The legend of “Dona Elvira”
In the 16th century, the monastery was so well known that its fame reached as far as Toledo. So much so that the painter and sculptor Rafael de León came to take refuge here. The reason is that if he did not become a friar, he would have to answer to justice after murdering his apprentice in cold blood. In a fit of jealousy, he thought his wife was cheating on him, and ended up killing him.
Already working in the monastery, he heard that his wife was dying of the plague in Toledo. After going to see her and when she died, the painter took her corpse to the monastery and buried her there. Even today, centuries later, women’s songs are heard at night, especially on full moon days. It is the so-called “Doña Elvira” who not only sings, but for centuries has changed site objectivesknocked over chairs and caused the monastery to be one of those places that give us goosebumps.
Now it only remains to know if you will dare to visit it on Halloween or better yet, Day of the Death that, as we learned from the movie Coconutthe veil between the living and the dead is thinner than ever.
Photos | istock, Tourism Madrid, Pelayos Monastery
In Trendencias | Real bread: 14 artisan bakeries in Madrid where to buy it
In Trendencias | The 33 best Netflix series you can watch right now