Ayllón

Ayllón likely began as an Arevaci settlement before Roman forces under Marco Fulvio Nobilior destroyed it. The town sits between the ancient sites of Tiermes and Confluenta. A Visigothic necropolis exists in the nearby Estebanvela area.

After repopulation during Arab occupation, the settlement first appears in records as Aellon in 1076. It became the administrative center of a community encompassing villages across present-day Segovia, Soria and Guadalajara provinces. The town witnessed significant royal activity - Alfonso VIII granted privileges to other settlements from here in 1202, and Alfonso XI met with his sister, the widowed Queen Leonor of Aragon, in 1337 during family disputes.

Two major agreements shaped Spanish history here: the 1411 Treaty of Ayllón between Spain and Portugal, recognizing Juan I of Avís as Portuguese king, and the discriminatory Laws of Ayllón against Jews and Muslims in 1412. The powerful constable Álvaro de Luna later made it his residence under Juan II of Castilla. During the transhumance period, Ayllón served as one of two annual meeting places for the Mesta council, hosting autumn gatherings.

Most surviving monuments date from these medieval centuries.