Stories of San Rafael · Guadarrama Mountains
Napoleon Bonaparte in San Rafael: the night that made mountain history
A snowstorm, an old royal coaching inn and an emperor’s journey help explain the origins of a village that still welcomes travellers seeking refuge in the mountains.
Before becoming the nature destination we know today, San Rafael grew around a coaching inn built beside the royal road. There, during the Peninsular War, severe weather forced Napoleon Bonaparte to halt. More than two centuries later, hospitality remains part of the village’s fondillero identity.
The coaching inn
Charles III ordered a coaching inn to be built beside the royal road.
Napoleon’s night in San Rafael
The emperor and his troops were halted by a severe snowstorm.
La Viña opens
Crescencio Santamaría and Petra Estévez opened their small wine house.
The journey continues
San Rafael still offers rest, nature and good food close to Madrid.
1808A night in San Rafael
Snow closed the mountain crossing and turned the inn into shelter for the French army.
The night remembered
When the storm halted an emperor
On 22 December 1808, Napoleon Bonaparte reached San Rafael with his troops. A severe snowstorm made it impossible to continue, and the emperor spent the night at the village inn.
On 23 December he resumed the journey towards Villacastín. The episode became permanently associated with local history and with the old coaching inn around which the settlement had grown.
A place born on the road
From Madrid to La Granja, with San Rafael as a refuge
The coaching inn was built beside the route linking Madrid with the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso. Travellers, postal couriers and horses found rest here before or after crossing the mountains.
The origin of a village
An identity grew around the old inn
Homes and businesses gradually appeared around the coaching inn and its church. The inn eventually gave local people their popular name: residents of San Rafael still proudly call themselves fondilleros and fondilleras.
The building no longer survives; Plaza de Castilla, the heart of San Rafael’s social and festive life, now occupies the site. The memory of the old inn, however, remains very much alive.
The story of La Viña
More than 70 years welcoming travellers
In 1953, our grandparents Crescencio Santamaría and Petra Estévez opened La Viña as a small wine house. Their purpose was simple: to offer good food, conversation and hospitality to anyone arriving in San Rafael.
Today, the restaurant and Hotel Rural La Viña continue that family tradition just a short walk from the site of the old inn: seven suites with private hot tubs, a seasonal pool, gardens and Castilian cuisine for an unhurried stay.
Keep exploring
A story best understood by travelling
San Rafael is an excellent base for combining mountain landscapes, heritage and the cuisine of Segovia.
Walk in the mountains
Pine forests, viewpoints and trails through the landscape that has shaped village life.
Visit Segovia
The Aqueduct, the Alcázar and centuries of history within easy reach of the hotel.
Taste the region
Roast suckling pig, judiones beans and Castilian cuisine at La Viña’s family restaurant.
Stay where hospitality is part of the story
Discover San Rafael from an adults-only boutique hotel between the Guadarrama Mountains, Segovia, Ávila and Madrid.
Secure direct booking · Confirmation through the hotel’s official booking engine