Logbook · 10 places

What to see and do in Calcena

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

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

How far each place is from the centre of Calcena

Church of Calcena 50 m
Hermitage of Calcena 50 m

Towns near Calcena

What to see in Purujosa 4.9 km · 7 places
What to see in Trasobares 6.5 km · 5 places
What to see in Oseja 6.8 km · 4 places
What to see in Talamantes 9 km · 6 places
What to see in Beratón 10 km · 7 places
What to see in Pomer 10 km · 3 places
What to see in Aranda de Moncayo 11 km · 9 places
What to see in Tierga 11 km · 6 places

Spain › Aragon › Zaragoza › Aranda › Calcena

What to see and do in Calcena

Calcena
Village
Calcena is a municipality in the comarca of Aranda, in the province of Zaragoza, situated at 836 metres above sea level on the southern slope of the Somontano of the Moncayo, in the valley of the río Isuela, part of which is protected by the Moncayo Natural Park. It worked silver mines in the foothills of the Moncayo since Roman times, with almost nine hundred residents in the mid-19th century (65 according to the INE of 2025). Its collegiate church of Nuestra Señora de los Reyes blends Romanesque, Plateresque, Baroque, Renaissance and Churrigueresque styles, with a Romanesque portal, rare south of the Ebro, and a square Mudéjar tower; between 1554 and 1559 the Zaragozan painter Jerónimo Cósida made for it a Renaissance altarpiece on the beheading of San Juan Bautista, one of the great works of the Aragonese Renaissance.
Isuela River
Nature
River that rises on the southern slope of a 1616-metre pass, on the southern foothills of the Sierra del Moncayo, in the Soria municipality of Beratón, and is in turn a tributary of the Aranda river, itself a tributary of the Jalón. After its first kilometres in Castilla y León, it enters the province of Zaragoza and turns southeast, crossing Purujosa, Calcena, Trasobares, Tierga, Mesones de Isuela and Nigüella, before flowing into the Aranda before Arándiga. In Calcena, at 836 metres above sea level on the southern slope of the Somontano del Moncayo and partly protected by the natural park of the same name, the town climbs from the river's left bank towards the peaks of San José and Santa Bárbara, while orchards occupy the lower part of the valley.
Church of Calcena
Monument
Church of Nuestra Señora de los Reyes in Calcena, which preserves a Renaissance altarpiece by Jerónimo Cósida painted between 1554 and 1559 depicting the beheading of San Juan Bautista.
Festivities of Calcena
Activity
Patron saint festivities of Calcena on the first Sunday of August, in honour of the Virgen del Rosario and Santa Constancia, although until a few decades ago they were held in early October.
Festivities of invierno de Calcena
Activity
Calcena's winter festival is held in a village that worked silver mines in the foothills of the Moncayo since Roman times, and whose church of Nuestra Señora de los Reyes preserves a Renaissance altarpiece that the painter Jerónimo Cósida executed between 1554 and 1559.
Hermitage of Calcena
Monument
Hermitage in the municipal district of Calcena, a village that worked silver mines in the foothills of the Moncayo since Roman times, and through whose district the river Isuela flows on its way to Trasobares, Tierga and Mesones de Isuela.
Landscape of the Isuela Valley
Nature
The Isuela rises in Beratón (Soria), at 1,616 m on the southern slope of the Moncayo, enters Zaragoza and flows through Purujosa, Calcena, Trasobares, Tierga and Mesones de Isuela before joining the Aranda. In Calcena it forms a waterfall reached by crossing a stone bridge, and together with the Aranda it shapes the valley that separates the sierras de la Virgen, del Tablado and de la Nava Alta.
Altarpiece by Jerónimo Cósida in Calcena
Historical milestone
Between 1554 and 1559 the Zaragoza painter Jerónimo Cósida executed for the church of Nuestra Señora de los Reyes in Calcena a Renaissance altarpiece dedicated to the beheading of San Juan Bautista, one of the best works of the Aragonese Renaissance.
Silver mines of Calcena
Historical milestone
Calcena worked silver mines in the southern foothills of the Moncayo, with antecedents going back to Roman times. In the middle of the nineteenth century the activity sustained some eight hundred and sixty households, against the good fifty of today.
Honey of the Aranda mountains
Food and drink
The hills of thyme, rosemary and lavender of the sierras that surround Calcena sustain small-scale beekeeping. The honey is packed in the comarca itself and is used in local desserts such as the aguamiel and in the homemade baking of the festivities.