Myths and Legends
Over the centuries the mountains and surrounding areas have been inhabited several myths and legends specific to the region have developed:
- The Shepherd's Chasm
- It is believed that in the mountains nearby San Lorenzo de El Escorial a secret treasure cache lies buried. Many have prospected in the region searching for this illusive trove.
- This legend holds that a certain Rafael Corraliza who managed the rich financial affairs of the Monastery of San Lorenzo, was lured by greed to plunder the monastery's treasury of Doubloons. Corraliza then absconded, heading for sanctuary in Portugal. He stole out at night taking a mountain footpath that led to the nearest village, Robledondo. However, upon attempted to traverse the mountain area known as the Shepherd's Chasm, named for a deep mountain crevasse, a saint overwatching the monastery, caused him to fall into the chasm, thus swallowing up both him and the stolen gold. In the course of time, the abyss was covered with branches and stones for fear that cattle or any person could suffer the same fate as Corraliza.
- The Boulder of the Dead
- The name of this legend comes from a namesake peculiar rock formation in La Pedriza. The story is that a group of three brigands kidnap a young woman of a rich and powerful Madrid family. While the chief of the band is temporarily away, the two remaining bandits decide to rape the young woman. Upon the chief's unexpected return, he attempts to throw each of them over the cliff above the namesake boulder as quick justice. The first is done successfully but the second grabs the leg of the ringleader as they struggle at the brink of the precipice, and they both plummet to their deaths on the rocks below. According to local people, for a time the corpses of the three bandits could be seen in a crack of the rocks.
Read more about this topic: Sierra De Guadarrama
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“a child’s
Forgotten mornings when he walked with his mother
Through the parables
Of sunlight
And the legends of the green chapels
And the twice-told fields of infancy”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)