Village
Alloza is a municipality of Teruel in Andorra-Sierra de Arcos, at 668 metres above sea level, whose name comes from the Arabic al-lawza(t), "the almond tree". Within its municipal area lies the Iberian site of El Castelillo, dating from the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, a settlement on a steep hill from which cálatos pottery with painted decoration has been recovered. After the comarca was reconquered in 1122 by Alfonso I the Battler, the village passed in 1179 to the Order of Calatrava, within its commandery of Alcañiz. In the 18th century it had a grammar school attended by Joaquín Fernando Garay, who introduced the potato into Spain, and during the First Carlist War it served as a refuge for general Cabrera. Its lignite mines, documented since the mid-20th century, in the mining triangle alongside Andorra and Ariño, came to account for 61% of the mining area.
Monument
The church of Alloza (Teruel), also called of the Conception or of the Purísima, is a 17th-century temple in Renaissance and baroque style, with three naves separated by round arches and four bays with a rectangular chancel. It stands out for its tall four-tiered brick tower, which narrows slightly in section towards the top.
Activity
Patron saint festivities of Alloza spread over three points in the year: San Blas and Santa Águeda, from 3 to 5 February, with a performance by the Danzantes de San Blas; the Judiada, on the Saturday of Pentecost; and the Exaltación de la Santa Cruz, on 14 September.
Monument
At the top of Alloza stands the ermita del Calvario or del Santo Sepulcro, from the early 18th century, with tiles from 1788 and a canopy with Solomonic columns from 1735; the village also preserves six other minor hermitages, dedicated to San Blas, San Gregorio, San Roque, la Virgen de Arcos, San Benón and San Cristóbal, the last two in ruins.
Activity
Winter festivals of Alloza, a municipality in the comarca of Andorra-Sierra de Arcos (Teruel). The local festive calendar includes New Year's Eve, on 1 January; San Antonio, on 17 January, a civic festival for the village's livestock farmers; and San Blas and Santa Águeda, on 3 and 5 February, with events extending to the nearest weekend.
Activity
San Blas is the patron saint of Alloza: between 1 and 5 February a mass and procession are held in his honour, with a performance of the traditional dance of the shepherd, the angel, the devil and the dancers, and a great bonfire lit in the square on the 1st that burns until the 5th, when Santa Águeda is celebrated.
Monument
The town hall of Alloza, on the plaza Mayor, is a 16th-century Renaissance building of masonry and ashlar, with three floors: a lonja with two round arches on the ground floor, three lintelled balconies on the second, and a gallery of twin small arches, typical of Aragonese architecture, on the third. It shares the square with the old 15th-century ermita de San Blas.
Historical milestone
Alfonso I reconquered the territory in 1122 and in 1179 Alfonso II handed Alloza to the Order of Calatrava, which integrated it into its commandery of Alcañiz. The order organized the settlement and the agrarian exploitation of the district.
Historical milestone
During the First Carlist War (1833-1840) the town sided with don Carlos's cause and served as a refuge for general Ramón Cabrera. Within its territory, beside the place known as Los Congostos, actions of war were fought between the two sides.
Historical milestone
Born in Alloza in 1947 and died in 2020, Joaquín Carbonell was one of the central voices of Aragonese singer-songwriting and also worked as a journalist. His work spread the speech and the landscape of the Bajo Aragón.
Food and drink
Alloza preserves olive groves of the royal variety, little grown outside a few inland comarcas. It gives a golden, mild-tasting oil, different from the empeltre that dominates in the rest of the Bajo Aragón.