Logbook · 7 places

What to see and do in Ojos Negros

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

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

How far each place is from the centre of Ojos Negros

Church of Ojos Negros 50 m
Ojos Negros iron mines 4.2 km

Towns near Ojos Negros

What to see in Pozuel del Campo 3.8 km · 1 place
What to see in Villar del Salz 6.2 km · 1 place
What to see in El Pedregal 7.7 km · 1 place
What to see in Blancas 8.6 km · 2 places
What to see in Setiles 10 km · 2 places
What to see in Tordesilos 11 km · 1 place
What to see in Peracense 11 km · 3 places
What to see in Ródenas 11 km · 5 places

Spain › Aragon › Teruel › Jiloca › Ojos Negros

What to see and do in Ojos Negros

Ojos Negros
Village
Ojos Negros is a municipality in the Jiloca district, on the western edge of Teruel, near Guadalajara, made up of the village of Ojos Negros and the district of Sierra Menera, with 321 inhabitants over 90.71 km². At 1,151 m above sea level, it has a cold climate with long winters. Iron was already being extracted and forged in its territory in Celtiberian, Roman and Muslim times. Documented since 1280, it was excluded in 1248 from the Comunidad de Aldeas de Daroca of James I, and due to its frontier position it formed part of Daroca's defensive belt during the wars of the 14th century; the first references to its castle date from 1344. The Compañía Minera de Sierra Menera, founded in 1900, built a mining railway to Sagunto between 1904 and 1907, today the Vía Verde de Ojos Negros, 167.5 km long; mining ceased in 1986.
Church of Ojos Negros
Monument
The parish church of Ojos Negros was built in the early 16th century, the work of Pierres de Nilo, also the author of the Torre del Micalet in Valencia. It is a masonry building with an ashlar façade, a three-nave Latin-cross floor plan, a barrel vault with lunettes in the central nave, a plain lintelled doorway and a tower that was left unfinished. It stands beside the ruins of the castle, in the town centre, famous for its old iron mining operation, one of the largest in Spain until the mine closed in 1986.
Ojos Negros iron mines
Curiosity
Old iron mining operation that gave rise to the Vía Verde de Ojos Negros. The Compañía Minera de Sierra Menera began extracting ore at these mines in Ojos Negros (Teruel) in 1906, and within barely seven years came to account for 10% of national iron production. To transport it to the port of Sagunto it built a 205-kilometre narrow-gauge railway, the Ferrocarril Ojos Negros-Sagunto, which avoided other companies' tariffs. Mining activity continued until 1987, when the company was dissolved; the railway, closed in 1972, is today the greenway that follows the historic route. The company's records are kept in the Archivo Histórico Provincial de Teruel.
Ojos Negros Greenway
Nature
The Vía Verde de Ojos Negros follows the route of the old Ojos Negros-Sagunto mining railway, a narrow-gauge line that operated between 1907 and 1972 and whose tracks were lifted after its closure. Adapted for hiking and cycling, the trail is 182.2 km long and runs from Ojos Negros, in Teruel, to Albalat de Taronchers, in Valencia, making it the longest greenway in Spain. It forms part of the Eje Santander-Mediterráneo of the Red de Caminos Naturales of the Ministerio de Agricultura, and is organised into three stages: from Ojos Negros to Santa Eulalia, from Santa Eulalia to Puerto Escandón, the highest point of the route, and from there to Algimia de Alfara.
Festivities of Ojos Negros
Activity
The patronal festivities of Ojos Negros, in the comarca of the Jiloca (Teruel), are held in honour of Santa Engracia in the second half of August. The municipality also celebrates the feast of the Santa Cruz on the first Saturday of May, with a traditional pilgrimage to the hermitage of the Santo Cristo de Herrera.
La Compañía Minera de Sierra Menera
Historical milestone
Around 1900 the Compañía Minera de Sierra Menera industrialised the extraction of iron over a deposit of some eighty million tonnes. The population reached its historical maximum in 1910 and the working ceased in 1986 with the steel crisis.
The mining railway from Sierra Menera to Sagunto
Historical milestone
Between 1904 and 1907 a narrow-gauge railway of two hundred and four kilometres was built to carry the mineral to the port of Sagunto. It operated until 1973 and its course today supports the longest greenway in Spain.