Logbook · 10 places

What to see and do in Villarluengo

What to see and do in Villarluengo (Maestrazgo, Teruel): 10 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 1 Monuments · 2 Nature · 2 Activities · 2 Historical milestones · 2 Food and drink

How far each place is from the centre of Villarluengo

Los Órganos de Montoro 4.9 km

Towns near Villarluengo

What to see in Pitarque 5.4 km · 5 places
What to see in Cañada de Benatanduz 7.8 km · 5 places
What to see in Tronchón 12 km · 7 places
What to see in Ejulve 14 km · 8 places
What to see in Aliaga 15 km · 7 places
What to see in Fortanete 16 km · 5 places
What to see in Miravete de la Sierra 16 km · 5 places
What to see in Olocau del Rey 16 km · 4 places

Spain › Aragon › Teruel › Maestrazgo › Villarluengo

What to see and do in Villarluengo

Villarluengo
Village
Villarluengo is a mountain municipality in the Teruel Maestrazgo, at 1,119 metres above sea level, atop a rocky spur on the edge of a ravine, at the confluence of the Palomita and Cañada rivers. Its territory contains the natural monument of the Órganos de Montoro and a Roman bridge in the Vado area. It received a founding charter from Alfonso II of Aragon in 1194, and a second one from the Templars in 1197, who consolidated control of these frontier lands until the Order's dissolution in 1312; at its greatest prosperity it had as many as 1,800 inhabitants. In 1541 the convent of Monte Santo was founded, later used as a Carlist stronghold and destroyed in 1840. In 1789 the Temprado family set up here the first continuous papermaking factory in Spain. Today it has 159 inhabitants, and also includes Montoro de Mezquita.
Los Órganos de Montoro
Nature
Natural Monument: a limestone formation of almost vertical layers that erosion has sculpted to look like the pipes of a great musical organ. It extends between the municipalities of Villarluengo and Ejulve, in the comarcas of Maestrazgo and Andorra-Sierra de Arcos, with an area of 187.6 hectares and an altitude ranging from 800 metres, beside the río Guadalope, up to 1,183 metres at the peña de los Órganos. It was declared a natural monument in 2010, one of five existing in Aragón, and it is made up of Upper Cretaceous limestone strata laid almost vertically, later shaped by karstification, with a verticality comparable to that of nearby Aliaga. On its crags, with sparse vegetation, cliff-nesting birds such as the vulture breed, and it is also home to the wild goat.
Mountain range of Villarluengo y cañones del Guadalope
Nature
A landscape of river canyons and limestone sierras around Villarluengo (Maestrazgo, Teruel), at the heart of the Maestrazgo Geopark, where the village sits atop a rocky spur on the edge of a ravine, at the confluence of the Palomita and Cañada rivers, between the sierras of Garrucha, Carrascosa and la Cañada. Within its municipal area lies the Órganos de Montoro natural monument, as well as sites such as the Salto de la Zorra, the barranco de la Hoz and the puente romano del Vado.
Festivities of Villarluengo
Activity
Patron saint festivities of Villarluengo from 23 to 26 August, in honour of San Bartolomé and the Virgen de Monte Santo. On 24 June the young people's feast of San Juan is held, with the Baile del Reinau dance, and on the Sunday closest to 25 April, a pilgrimage to San Pedro de la Roqueta.
Hermitage of la Virgen de la Estrella
Monument
Hermitage of la Virgen de la Estrella, in the municipality of Villarluengo, a town that received a founding charter from Alfonso II in 1194 and a second one from the Templars in 1197. In 1789 the Temprado family established there the first continuous papermaking factory in Spain, whose derived textile industry did not close until 1958.
Festivities of invierno de Villarluengo
Activity
Villarluengo's winter festival is held in a village whose mountain recipes include judías del Bolico beans and garbanzos viudos, and near the Monumento Natural de los Órganos de Montoro.
Settlement charter of Villarluengo
Historical milestone
Alfonso II granted in 1194 a charter of settlement to establish population on this frontier between Christian and Muslim territory. In 1197 the Templars granted a second charter to twenty settlers and maintained the dominion until 1312.
The first continuous papermaking mill in Spain
Historical milestone
In 1789 the Temprado family, in association with French technicians and capital, installed in Villarluengo the first continuous paper factory that existed in Spain. The textile industry derived from that impulse did not close until 1958.
Cecina and ham cured in the mountains
Food and drink
The cold, dry air of the sierra allows hams and cured beef of recognised prestige to be cured, together with cured meats from the slaughter. They are cut very thinly and served as a starter in the restaurants and eating houses of the Maestrazgo.
Bolico beans and widowed chickpeas
Food and drink
The pulses grown in the mountain plots give spoon dishes such as the beans del Bolico or the garbanzos viudos, stewed without meat. They are the most characteristic winter recipes of the locality.