Santorcaz is a town and municipality in the

Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities and 50 provinces of Spain, provinces of Spain. It is located at the heart of the Iberian Peninsula and Meseta Central, Central Plateau (); its capital and largest munici ...

, Spain. It was built on a Bronze Age settlement and became a town in 1486.

Location

Santorcaz is located on the moors rising up to the left (southern) bank of the

Henares The Henares () is a river in Central Iberia, a left-bank tributary of the Jarama. It has its source in the , near the village of Horna, in the municipality of Sigüenza, province of Guadalajara, Spain. Its tributaries are the Torote, the Sorbe ...

. The

thalweg In geography, hydrography, and fluvial geomorphology, a thalweg or talweg () is the line or curve of lowest elevation within a valley or watercourse. Normally only the horizontal position of the curve is considered (as viewed on a map); the c ...

of the main hydrographic feature of the municipality, the Anchuelo creek, marks the lowest altitude of the municipality (around 780 metres above sea level).

History

Located some metres north of the housing at the opposite side of the M-213 road, the Llano de la Horca site hosts a Late Iron Age

Carpetani The Carpetani ( Greek: ''Karpetanoi''), also named ''Karpesioi'' by Polybius, were one of the Celtic peoples inhabiting the Iberian Peninsula prior to the Roman conquest. Their core domain was constituted by the lands between the Tagus and the ...

an ''

oppidum An ''oppidum'' (: ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age Europe, Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celts, Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread acros ...

'' (3rd century-1st century BCE), built over an older

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

occupation phase. In 1129, Santorcaz was donated along with other places attached to the land of Alcalá, to Archbishop Raymond of Toledo. The opening of the road from

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

to the passing near the town fostered some economic recovery after 1817. Sights include the church of San Torcuato and the annexed castle of Torremocha (14th century).

References

{{authority control Municipalities in the Community of Madrid