Soto del Real, whose former name was ''Chozas de la Sierra'', is a town and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the northern area of the autonomous

Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; es, Comunidad de Madrid ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. It is located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, and of the Central Plateau (''Meseta Central''). Its capital and largest munici ...

which had 8,294 inhabitants in 2009. 43 kilometers away from

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, the capital city, it is located between the towns of

Manzanares el Real Manzanares el Real is a 8,936 inhabitant town (2020 statistics fro in the northern area of the autonomous Community of Madrid. It is located at the foot of The Pedriza, a part of the Sierra de Guadarrama, and next to the ''embalse de Santillana' ...

and

Miraflores de la Sierra Miraflores de la Sierra is a town and municipality in the northern area of the autonomous Community of Madrid, in central Spain, of c. 6,000 inhabitants, located 49 kilometers away from Madrid. History Miraflores de la Sierra, formerly known as P ...

, and close to the

Santillana reservoir Santillana reservoir, also known as Manzanares el Real reservoir ( es, embalse de Santillana or ''embalse de Manzanares el Real''), is a body of water along the Manzanares river located in the municipalities of Manzanares el Real and Soto del Real ...

Geography

It is located in the north of the

, in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula. The municipality has an elongated shape that goes from Northwest to Southeast, and the majority of it is protected inside the Parque Regional de la Cuenca Alta del Manzanares. It borders with

on the West,

on the East,

Colmenar Viejo Colmenar Viejo is a town and municipality of about 48,614 inhabitants, located in the Community of Madrid, Spain, 30 kilometers north of Madrid on the M-607 motorway. It belongs to the comarca of Cuenca Alta del Manzanares. Main sights In the ...

on the South, and

Rascafría Rascafría is a municipality of the Community of Madrid, Spain. In its territory is the Monastery of Santa Maria de El Paular The Monasterio de Santa María de El Paular (Santa María de El Paular Monastery) is a former Carthusian monastery ...

on the North. Soto del Real encompasses a variety of terrains: mountain tops, slopes, and the Manzanares-Guadalix tectonic pit. The urban nucleus is inside the pit, going through the Mediano, Chozas and Matarrubias streams, which flow into the

, so they are tributaries of the

Manzanares river The Manzanares () is a river in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, which flows from the Sierra de Guadarrama, passes through Madrid, and eventually empties into the Jarama river, which in turn is a right-bank tributary to the Tagus. In its ...

. Geologically speaking, it is divided into the

Mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

, where there is a predominance of

Gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...

with granite outcrops, and the pit formed by a tertiary sedimentary fill. Furthermore, in the South area there is

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

from the

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceo ...

era.

History

The first evidence of settlements in ''Soto del Real'' dates from the 10th century, with archeological remains of houses and

ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

attributed to

shepherds A shepherd or sheepherder is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. ''Shepherd'' derives from Old English ''sceaphierde (''sceap'' 'sheep' + ''hierde'' 'herder'). ''Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations, i ...

. During the 13th century, the area encompassing

, ''Chozas de la Sierra'' and ''Porquerizas'' (

) was a source of legal conflict between the provinces of

and

Segovia Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia. Segovia is in the Inner Plateau (''Meseta central''), near the northern slopes of th ...

, with

John I of Castile John I ( es, Juan I; 24 August 1358 – 9 October 1390) was King of Castile and León from 1379 until 1390. He was the son of Henry II and of his wife Juana Manuel of Castile. Biography His first marriage, to Eleanor of Aragon on 18 June 1375, ...

incorporating ''Chozas'' to the municipality of ''El Real de Manzanres'' in 1389. In 1568

Philip II of Spain Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...

exempted ''Chozas'' from ''El Real de Manzanares''. The name ''Soto del Real'' has been in use since a 1959 vote in which the local population chose the name over ''Alameda de la Sierra'' or its historic one, ''Chozas de la Sierra''. The town's coat of arms makes reference to both of the town's names. ''Soto'' makes reference to the numerous trees and forests surrounding (in Spanish ''Sotos''), ''del Real'' referring to its historical ties to ''El Real de Manzanares'' from 1389 till 1568.

Festivities

The first weekend of August ''Soto del Real'' celebrates its festivities in honour of the ''Virgen del Rosario'' (

Our Lady of the Rosary Our Lady of the Rosary, also known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, is a Marian title. The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, formerly known as Feast of Our Lady of Victory and Feast of the Holy Rosary is celebrated on 7 October in the General Roma ...

), patron of the municipality. The 7 October, day of the Virgin of the Rosary, is also celebrated, as is 15 May, day of San Isidro

Bus lines

* SE720:

* 720: Colmenar Viejo -

Collado Villalba Collado Villalba () is a municipality of the Community of Madrid, in central Spain. It is located 40.3 kilometres north-west of the city of Madrid, at an altitude of 917 meters above sea level. It has a population of 63,679 (2019), with a popula ...

* 721:

(

Plaza de Castilla The Plaza de Castilla ( en, "Castile Square") is a roundabout in the north of Madrid, Spain. Location It is located in the north of the city and is bisected by Paseo de la Castellana, one of the main thoroughfares of the capital, almost at its ...

) - Colmenar Viejo (only Friday, Saturday, Sunday and holidays the buses of this line continue to Madrid V Penitentiary Center, in the outskirts of Soto del Real) * 724: Madrid (Plaza de Castilla) - Manzanares el Real -

El Boalo El Boalo is a Spanish village of around 6000 inhabitants, north west of Madrid, in the Community of Madrid. Bus * 672: Cerceda - Moralzarzal - Madrid (Moncloa) * 724: El Boalo - Manzanares el Real Manzanares el Real is a 8,936 inhabitant t ...

* 725: Madrid (Plaza de Castilla) -

- Bustarviejo - Valdemanco * 726: Madrid (Plaza de Castilla) -

Guadalix The Guadalix is a river of Spain located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, a right-bank tributary of the Jarama. It springs out of the Sierra de Guadarrama, in the valley flanked by the , el , the Alto de la Genciana and the Cordal de la Va ...

- Navalafuente

References

External links

Municipal website

Soto del Real Forum-Foro de Soto del Real

Municipal news website
{{authority control Municipalities in the Community of Madrid