San Isidro
15 May
La Caballada
On Pentecost Sunday, Atienza rides its history: the festival commemorating the muleteers who in 1162 saved a boy king.
National Tourist InterestPentecost Sunday
A festival that is an act of memory
It is not a re-enactment: it is a living tradition, never interrupted, organised by the Brotherhood of the Holy Trinity, which preserves documentation from the 12th century.
Next Caballada
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Book lodging in advance: it is the busiest weekend of the year.
The story
1162: the flight of the boy king
In 1162, Alfonso VIII was a child king of Castile. Fernando II of León was pressing militarily and politically to seize his guardianship. The Lara family supported the young monarch; the Castro family defended the Leonese cause.
Alfonso VIII was brought to Atienza and protected behind its walls. During the siege, the brotherhood of muleteers devised a stratagem: they pretended to set off on pilgrimage to the hermitage of the Virgen de la Estrella, distracting the Leonese troops while the fastest horses carried the boy king toward Ávila.
That manoeuvre made it possible to preserve the independent Castilian crown. Today the festival is organised by the Brotherhood of the Holy Trinity, which preserves documentation from the 12th century and books of agreements and accounts from 1679.
- 1162
The siege of Atienza
The muleteers bring the boy king Alfonso VIII to safety with a feigned pilgrimage.
- 1679
The written memory
From this year on, the Brotherhood's books of agreements and accounts are preserved.
- Today
National Tourist Interest
La Caballada is held every Pentecost Sunday, organised by the Brotherhood of the Holy Trinity.
The festival in video
Watch it even outside May
Real footage of La Caballada in one of its recent editions. If you come at Pentecost, all you see is lived live.
The programme
The day, hour by hour
On Pentecost Sunday, from the Prioste's house to the Estrella hermitage and back to the village.
- 10:00The brothers gather with the horses at the Prioste's house: roll-call, fines and the flag auction.
- 10:15They collect the Abad and pass through Plaza del Trigo, Plaza de España, Calle Real and the Convent of San Francisco toward the Estrella hermitage.
- 12:00Procession with the Virgen de la Estrella to the Peña de la Bandera.
- 12:30Mass at the Estrella hermitage.
- 13:15Auction of the Roscas at the hermitage door.
- 13:45The brothers dance in the hermitage porch.
- 14:30Brotherhood meal.
- 16:15The brothers dance again.
- 17:30Salve inside the hermitage.
- 17:45Return through the village toward the Camino de las Cuevas.
- 18:30Horse races.
- 19:00Limonada in the Plaza del Trigo.
- 19:15Traditional wine from the porrón at the Prioste's house.
The Brotherhood
The Brotherhood of the Holy Trinity
It guards the memory of La Caballada and preserves books of agreements and accounts from 1679. Its calendar extends beyond Pentecost Sunday.
La Caballada
Pentecost Sunday
Saturday of the Seven Omelettes
Eve of Pentecost
Trinity Sunday
Sunday after Pentecost
Saturday of the Cernina
Saturday after Trinity
For visitors
How to experience La Caballada
Before you go
- Book lodging well in advance.
- The heart of the festival is the Estrella hermitage, about 3 km from the village.
- The La Caballada section of the Holy Trinity Museum helps to understand it.
- On the Saturday of the Seven Omelettes there is music and a gathering in the Plaza del Trigo.
Activities of the month
Pequecaballada
La Caballada for the youngest.
Photography contest
The festival seen by its visitors.
May gastronomic days
The village's recipe book throughout the month.
Music, wine, omelette and chorizo
A gathering in the Plaza del Trigo on the Saturday of the Seven Omelettes.
Gallery
The festival in images
Images of La Caballada of Atienza. Photography: Wikimedia Commons.
On the web
La Caballada on other official sites
Experience La Caballada in Atienza
Book lodging, check the calendar and discover the May gastronomy of the village.