Logbook · 9 places

What to see and do in Aranda de Moncayo

What to see and do in Aranda de Moncayo (Aranda, Zaragoza): 9 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 2 Monuments · 2 Activities · 3 Historical milestones · 1 Food and drink

How far each place is from the centre of Aranda de Moncayo

Church of Aranda de Moncayo 50 m
Hermitage of Aranda de Moncayo 50 m

Towns near Aranda de Moncayo

What to see in Clarés de Ribota 6.6 km · 1 place
What to see in Malanquilla 7 km · 1 place
What to see in Pomer 7.8 km · 3 places
What to see in Oseja 7.9 km · 4 places
What to see in Jarque de Moncayo 9.8 km · 5 places
What to see in Calcena 11 km · 10 places
What to see in Bijuesca 11 km · 1 place
What to see in Purujosa 12 km · 7 places

Spain › Aragon › Zaragoza › Aranda › Aranda de Moncayo

What to see and do in Aranda de Moncayo

Aranda de Moncayo
Village
Aranda de Moncayo is a municipality of the Serranía Celtibérica, south of the Moncayo, in Zaragoza, crossed from north-west to south-east by the río Aranda, which gives its name to the municipality and the comarca. The place name comes from Aratis, a Celtiberian city founded in the 6th century BC within its territory, whose site was declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) in 2016; the valley was incorporated into the Kingdom of Aragón by Alfonso I the Battler in 1120, after the conquest of Zaragoza and Calatayud. On the municipality's land the county of Aranda was founded in 1488, a title that fell to the Ximénez de Urrea family; in the 18th century Pedro Pablo Abarca de Bolea, the tenth count, stood out as one of the most renowned Aragonese politicians. The Maidevera reservoir, begun in 1979, came into service in 1983. It has 112 inhabitants.
Church of Aranda de Moncayo
Monument
Parish church of Aranda de Moncayo, under the dedication of the Asunción de Nuestra Señora and with San Roque de Montpellier as patron, in the Aragonese comarca that takes its name from the village. Built in the 15th century in late Gothic style, with a single nave and star-ribbed vault, over an earlier Romanesque church dedicated to Santa María; the architect Juan Díaz directed repair works in 1533, and in 1548 an organ was acquired from the Zaragoza organ-builder Tomás Puche. It retains a sturdy bell tower in the Aragonese Mudejar tradition, Renaissance and Baroque altarpieces, reliquaries and a neoclassical choir.
Festivities of Aranda de Moncayo
Activity
Patron saint festivities of Aranda de Moncayo on the third weekend of August, in honour of the Virgen del Remedio, extending for a week and repeated on the fourth weekend of September; on 16 August San Roque is also celebrated with a pilgrimage to his hermitage.
Festivities of invierno de Aranda de Moncayo
Activity
Aranda de Moncayo's winter festival is held beside the site of Aratis, the Celtiberian city that gives its name to the valley, declared a bien de interés cultural in 2016; the embalse de Maidevera, completed in 1979, contributed together with emigration to the municipality going from more than sixteen hundred inhabitants in 1910 to just over a hundred.
Hermitage of Aranda de Moncayo
Monument
Hermitage in the municipal district of Aranda de Moncayo, a valley that Alfonso I el Batallador incorporated into the kingdom of Aragón in 1120, after the conquest of Zaragoza and Calatayud.
Aratis, the Celtiberian city
Historical milestone
The site of some twelve hectares located in the district of Aranda corresponds to the Celtiberian city of Aratis, founded in the sixth century BC and from which the valley takes its name. It was declared a bien de interés cultural in 2016 after years of looting.
The Aranda valley passes to the Crown of Aragon
Historical milestone
Alfonso I the Battler incorporated Aranda and its valley into the kingdom of Aragon in 1120, after the conquest of Zaragoza and Calatayud. The township had moved in Muslim times to a defensive hill, where the Christian castle was afterwards built.
Reservoir of Maidevera y la despoblación
Historical milestone
The construction of the Maidevera reservoir, completed in 1979, flooded irrigated land of the district of Aranda de Moncayo. Together with rural emigration, it contributed to the municipality going from more than one thousand six hundred inhabitants in 1910 to little more than a hundred.
Christmas Eve honey water
Food and drink
A traditional dessert of Aranda de Moncayo made with diluted and flavored honey, offered to relatives and neighbors on Christmas Eve. It is served very cold and accompanies the homemade sweets of the pig slaughter and the comarca's nuts.