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What to see and do in Aliaga

What to see and do in Aliaga (Cuencas Mineras, Teruel): 7 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 1 Monuments · 1 Activities · 3 Historical milestones · 1 Food and drink

Towns near Aliaga

Spain › Aragon › Teruel › Cuencas Mineras › Aliaga

What to see and do in Aliaga

Aliaga
Village
Aliaga, in the Cuencas Mineras of Teruel, stands at 1,105 metres above sea level at the confluence of the río de la Val and the Guadalope, at the foot of the sierra de San Just. It may be the ancient Laxta, a Celtiberian city fortified by Hamilcar Barca; its continuous settlement dates from Muslim times, when the central part of its castle was built, from which the village's name derives (from the Arabic Alulgha, “twisted valley”). In 1163, Sancho de Tarazona granted the town to the Order of St John of the Hospital, which enlarged the castle with a second enclosure, now the best preserved. It remained walled until well into the 20th century. It is also a municipality of great geological interest: its geological park spans 200 million years of the Earth's history. It has 344 inhabitants.
Geological Park of Aliaga
Monument
The Aliaga Geological Park is a natural area within the municipality of Aliaga where the geological evolution of the last 200 million years can be observed, with formations and structures of great interest, including folds that have made it an international benchmark for study. It has 11 signposted points and 9 tourist routes running through the different rocks and formations, and a visitor centre in Aliaga that informs visitors, through panels and audiovisual media, about the area's values.
Festivities of Aliaga
Activity
Festivals of Aliaga (Cuencas Mineras, Teruel), home of the geological park. The municipality's festive calendar includes the Albadas festival, on 20 January; the patronal festivals in honour of Saint John, on 23, 24 and 25 June; and the main festivals in honour of the Virgin of the Bramble Bush, on 7, 8 and 9 September.
Aliaga and the Order of Saint John
Historical milestone
Alfonso I handed the villa to Lope Iohannes in 1118 and in 1163 it passed to the Order of Saint John of the Hospital, which reinforced the castle. Around 1180 it became the head of a commandery with jurisdiction over the surrounding fortresses.
The thermal power plant of Aliaga
Historical milestone
The Aliaga thermal power station, now abandoned, was a thermoelectric plant owned by Eléctricas Reunidas de Zaragoza, later integrated into Endesa, built from 1949 to make use of the lignite coal from the local mines. Its first two units, of 10 MW each, entered service in 1952, when it was the most important and modern thermal power station in Spain, with a 76-metre-long boiler room, fed by a small reservoir on the Guadalope river. In 1958 a third unit of 25 MW came into operation, but the coal from the comarca proved insufficient and transport from other basins in Teruel made production more expensive. An economic boost that drew as many as 2000 inhabitants to the area, it closed for good in 1982.
Aliaga in the Battle of Teruel
Historical milestone
During the battle of Teruel the Republican forces used Aliaga as a supply centre in the rear of the front. The rebel army took the locality on 23 April 1938, in the advance towards the Mediterranean.
Air-cured somarro
Food and drink
The somarro is a leg of sheep or goat salted and cured in the cold air of the sierra, cut into very thin slices. It is eaten as a starter and is one of the most characteristic preparations of the comarca's sheep farming.