Medina del Campo - Itinerary Castilla y León -

Castillo de la Mota

Cesare Borgia was a prisoner in the castle of La Mota and Saint Francisco de Borja ordered the construction of the church of Santiago el Real.

Medina del Campo was founded in the 11th century on the speck where the castle stands today. Although this area is currently on the outskirts of the town, it was originally the center of the town.

Thanks to the repopulation at the beginning of the Late Middle Ages and to the commercial fairs of the XV and XVI centuries, Medina became one of the most important places in Castile, reaching 20,000 inhabitants at the end of the XV century (the same number as nowadays).

The oldest document in which the town is mentioned (as "Metina") is a letter of donations from 1107.

In 1258 Alfonso X confirms the Medinan charters. Fernando IV calls for the first time the Courts of Medina, which would hold sessions throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Since then and until today, practically all the Spanish kings or rulers have passed through its streets at some time. 

Cesare Borgia was a prisoner in the castle of La Mota, from whom he escaped in a bizarre way and, years later, Francisco de Borja left his mark on the building of the church of Santiago el Real.