In the small wine town of Navalcarnero, about half an hour southwest of Madrid, a reconstructed doorway marks the spot where one of Spain's most peculiar royal weddings took place. On October 7, 1649, King Philip IV married his niece, Archduchess Mariana of Austria — and the newlyweds received their blessing and spent their first two nights in two adjoining houses owned by a local priest and lawyer, Miguel González Ollero, hastily kitted out as a palace for the occasion.
The house later earned the name Casa de la Cadena, or House of the Chain, after a ceremonial chain was strung between large stone bollards across the entrance — a privilege reserved for royal residences. A coat of arms went up above the door. But the building itself eventually came down, and the chain vanished with it.
What stands today is a faithful 1998 reconstruction by sculptor Feliciano Hernández, who worked from a 19th-century engraving, probably dating from 1857. It was inaugurated on October 10, 1998. The best part of the story is a surviving original: the royal coat of arms above the portal. The Rey Benito family donated it to the town in 1988, having spent decades since 1940 using the carved stone as their doorstep. Hernández restored it and set it into the new façade; the lower shield is his modern reproduction.
The setting adds to the experience. The replica sits on Calle de Felipe IV, once called Calle de la Cadena, where original commemorative inscriptions from the royal wedding can still be read. Navalcarnero itself rewards a wander: founded in the 15th century, it grew wealthy as a staging post on the road between Madrid and Toledo, and today its vineyards fall under the Vinos de Madrid denomination of origin. A half-day trip can easily combine the doorway, the old inscriptions, and a tasting at one of the local bodegas.
It's a niche stop, admittedly — but exactly the kind that makes a Madrid day trip memorable. If you've already done Segovia and Toledo, this is a quieter detour with a genuinely strange royal love story attached, and decent wine as the payoff.
