The city dates from a pre-Roman town located in the middle of the hill of San Juan Viso. The Romans later occupied the place and called it Complutum, which means "humid area". The Arabs also occupied this place and called it "Al-kala Nahar", which gave rise to its current name. Archbishop Bernardeo conquered it for King Alfonso VI in 1088 and it came unde the aegis of the Bishop of Toledo.

The city’s location in the fertile valley of the Henares river earned it many priviledges, among them that of holding a weekly market and an annual fair, which brought it great prosperity.

The birthplace of Cervantes, Alcalá was and still is famous for its university, one of the oldest in Europe, which brought together thousands of students from different parts of Spain. In a short time the city was filled with residential colleges –there were once as many as 30- founded by different religious orders to house those students lacking living quarters. Convents also sprang up –more than 200 in the 17^th century- along with new churches and two hospitals.

The façade of the historic university building is unsurpassed in its beauty. Executed in the Renaissance style, with large bas-reliefs, it is divided into five parts by Plateresque columns. Four medallions, representing the most important doctors of the church, adorn the lower windows, and a final balustrade is crowned with Gothic spires.

The city, which has been designated a World Heritage Site, declined somewhat during the 19^th century when it lost its status as a university city. But today the old university is again offering classes and Alcalá again enjoys that status.

Its printing shops made it a center of Renaissance culture, and the jewel known as the Biblia Políglota Complutense was printed here, financed by Cardinal Cisneros. Alcalá has the remanins of several Medieval buildings. But above all it is a city marked by the Renaissance style. Only two gates remain from its old walls: the Madrid and Bernardas arches.

The city refelects the urban planning common to Castile in the 17^th century, with many monumental buildings. An excellent example is the Archbishop’s Palace, with its magnificent patio and its Plateresque façade.

Inside the University are two cloisters. The first of Italian influence, and the second, Baroque, was designed in 1617 by Juan Gómez de Mora, the architect preferred by the Hapsburgs. The chapel, erected during the time of Cardinal Cisneros, is a mixture of styles such as Mudéjar and Gothic, and there is a beautiful polychromatic ceiling. The Paraninfo (central hall) has a curious Plateresque throne and a rich moulded ceiling. It is the place where the Cervantes Literature Prize –known as the Spanish Nobel award- is given each year.

The Magistral Church is Alcalá’s most interesting temple. It was erected in honor of the saints Justo and Pastor, Christian children who were martyred during the Roman era. It dates from the year 1136, but was rebuilt at the beginning of the 16^th century. Its façade is in the Gothic style and the interior has three naves with a series of pointed arches, which support 43 pillars. One of its urns, in silver and executed in the 17^th century, contains the remains of the child martyrs, who are the city’s patron saints.

The humble Santa María parish church has the baptismal font where Cervantes was christened.

Also noteworthy is the so-called Church of the Company (1635), the work of Juan de Mora, who is also responsible for the design of the Collegiate Convent of the Company of Jesus, where there are two beautiful statues of San Ignacio and San Francisco Javier, both by Manuel Pereira.

Alcalá is also an important city for convents. These special buildings have a rich and varied architecture and contain fabulous collections of art, altarpieces and paintings as well as craftsmanship in precious metals, wood carvings, chasubles and furniture.

The city also has the residence-museum of Cervantes. It is built in the traditional Toledo style, its façade is of brick masonry and limestone. The interior is built around a queadrangular patio that was originally Roman and later moorish.

This Alcalá of the end of the 20^th century is something of a contradiction: the combination of an industrial city, with few infrastructures, and a city of the future, with a university, cultural activities, and a lively student life similar to that of earlier centuries. Its energetic students stroll down ancient streets like the Calle Mayor under rustic arches, which has been celebrated in song for centuries.

The presence of Alcalá in Spanish cultural life is growing. In 1988 it earned the Europa Nostra Conservation Prize, and in 1995 its university won another valuable award for the restoration of its old university colleges. In 1991 the headquarters of the Instituto Cervantes, an international organization for promoting the Spanish language around the world, occupied the Colegio del Rey building.