UNESCO World Heritage Site

University and Historic Precinct of Alcalá de Henares

University and Historic Precinct of Alcalá de Henares is a cultural UNESCO World Heritage Site in Spain, inscribed in 1998.

Founded by Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros in the early 16th century, Alcalá de Henares was the world's first planned university city. It was the original model for the Civitas Dei (City of God), the ideal urban community which Spanish missionaries brought to the Americas. It also s

Founded by Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros in the early 16th century, Alcalá de Henares was the world's first planned university city. It was the original model for the Civitas Dei (City of God), the ideal urban community which Spanish missionaries brought to the Americas. It also served as a model for universities in Europe and elsewhere.

Country
Spain
Region
Europe
Category
Cultural
Inscribed
1998
UNESCO reference
876
Area
78.38 ha

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Counts are based on Zikzak's current UNESCO World Heritage dataset, sourced from UNESCO. Last updated 7 August 2026. UNESCO insights

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