Logbook · 6 places

What to see and do in Alcalá de la Selva

What to see and do in Alcalá de la Selva (Gúdar-Javalambre, Teruel): 6 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 1 Monuments · 1 Nature · 1 Activities · 2 Historical milestones

How far each place is from the centre of Alcalá de la Selva

Church of Alcalá de la Selva 50 m
Mountain range of Gúdar 7.4 km

Towns near Alcalá de la Selva

What to see in Gúdar 7.7 km · 3 places
What to see in El Castellar 8.3 km · 3 places
What to see in Cabra de Mora 9.6 km · 3 places
What to see in Valdelinares 9.9 km · 7 places
What to see in Monteagudo del Castillo 13 km · 2 places
What to see in Cedrillas 13 km · 4 places
What to see in Allepuz 13 km · 4 places
What to see in Linares de Mora 13 km · 4 places

Spain › Aragon › Teruel › Gúdar-Javalambre › Alcalá de la Selva

What to see and do in Alcalá de la Selva

Alcalá de la Selva
Village
Alcalá de la Selva is a mountain municipality in the comarca of Gúdar-Javalambre, in the province of Teruel, located at an altitude of 1,404 metres in the sierra de Gúdar, beside the río Alcalá and near the Valdelinares ski resort. It has 382 inhabitants (INE 2025). Its name comes from the Arabic al-qalat, the castle, and from the fact that Alfonso II the Chaste granted the village, already reconquered, to the French monks of the abbey of Santa María de la Selva Mayor, who held it until 1375, when it passed to the Heredia family. In the First Carlist War, troops of Carlos María Isidro de Borbón occupied and restored its castle in 1835, until in 1840 it was taken by the national forces under the command of O'Donnell. Bronze Age and Iberian-era sites are found within the municipal boundary.
Church of Alcalá de la Selva
Monument
The parish church of Alcalá de la Selva, dedicated to San Simón and San Judas, stands at the top of the village, next to the sierra de Gúdar. Built in the 16th century in masonry and ashlar, it is a temple of large dimensions and notable verticality, with three naves covered by star-ribbed vaults. Its Mannerist portal stands out, formed by a monumental triple-arch porch, and a tower with a square plan on the first level and octagonal on the two upper ones. Inside, 16th-century paintings are preserved in the chapel of the Sagrario.
Mountain range of Gúdar
Nature
The sierra de Gúdar extends across the Iberian System between the provinces of Teruel and Castellón, and holds the highest elevations in Teruel, with the Peñarroya peak as its highest point at 2,028 metres. It is drained by the Alfambra, Linares and Mijares rivers. On the lower slopes grow black poplars, junipers, black pine and willows; on the summits, Scots pine and black pine, the latter with the southernmost population on the peninsula. Golden eagles and griffon vultures nest among its rocky outcrops, and wild boar, Iberian wild goats, roe deer, wildcats and badgers coexist there. The climate is extreme, with harsh winters; Valdelinares has a ski resort. The surrounding villages, such as Mosqueruela, preserve castles, chapels and the characteristic dry-stone walls.
Festivities of Alcalá de la Selva
Activity
Patron saint festivities of Alcalá de la Selva from 7 to 10 September, in honour of the Virgen de la Vega, with a pilgrimage to her hermitage and processions with dancers and Moors and Christians wearing Carlist War uniforms.
Grant of Alcalá to the monastery of Selva Mayor
Historical milestone
In 1174 Alfonso II donated the place to the French abbey of Santa María de la Selva Mayor, near Bordeaux. From that monastic dependence comes the municipality's suffix, whose first element derives from the Arabic al-qalat, the castle.
O'Donnell takes the castle of Alcalá
Historical milestone
On 30 April 1840 the government troops commanded by General O'Donnell stormed the fortress after a fierce battle. The resistance of the Carlist garrison caused forty casualties among the attackers.