Archaeological site El Beneficio

Camino de los entretérminos. Collado Mediano.

The origins of this archaeological site are linked to an inn located next to the Roman road that crossed the Sierra de Guadarrama via the Fuenfría Pass. This road was part of a dense network of Roman roads in what nowadays is Madrid Region and would mainly communicate Titulcia with Segóbriga. Supposedly it was used between the 1st and the 4th centuries AD.

The archaeological site has a visitor centre and offers guided tours, educational ones included. The site is easily accessible, being located very close to the town centre. Although there are only ruins left, the outline of the central courtyard, the rooms where travellers slept, the inner courtyard and the Roman thermal baths, with their hot water (Caldarium), warm water (Tepidarium) and cold water (Frigidarium) rooms can be clearly distinguished. By visiting this site one can imagine and interpret the intense activity of these Roman roads, as well as their great commercial importance during the Roman times, only a few centuries ago.