Village
Belchite is a town in one of the most arid areas of Aragon, head of the Campo de Belchite district, in the province of Zaragoza, on the banks of the Aguasvivas river. The scene of one of the fiercest battles of the Spanish Civil War, it was destroyed in the fighting; Franco's regime built a new village beside the ruins and left those of the old one standing as a reminder of the conflict, giving rise to what is today called the Pueblo Viejo de Belchite, abandoned and partly closed to visitors. It holds the titles of most noble, loyal and heroic, and the Laureate Cross of San Fernando. Its origins go back to a Celtiberian settlement, perhaps the Belgeda mentioned by Appian in the 1st century BC, and to an Arab settlement, Balsal, which belonged until 1118 to the taifa of Zaragoza. It has 1,495 inhabitants (INE 2025).
Curiosity
The Pueblo Viejo de Belchite is the old urban centre of the town, today preserved as a set of ruins. It was the scene of the Battle of Belchite, fought between 24 August and 6 September 1937 during the Spanish Civil War, and was almost completely destroyed; after the conflict a new village was built alongside it, while some residents remained among the ruins until the 1960s. It was declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) in 2002, with the category of Conjunto de Interés Cultural and the status of Sitio Histórico, and in 2025 its ruins were included on the World Monuments Watch list, which brings together endangered monuments from around the world; in 2026 the site was further declared an Espacio de Interés Turístico de Aragón (an official tourism-heritage distinction awarded by the regional government).
Monument
Tower attached to the southern side of the old church of San Martín de Tours, in Belchite Viejo, built in the first decades of the 15th century and remodelled between 1550 and 1560. Square in plan and with an Almohad minaret-like structure with a central pier, it rises on a base of ashlar stone with the rest in brick, and is divided into three storeys: the first barely decorated, the second with Mudéjar motifs of zigzags, esquinillas and lozenges, and the third, serving as the belfry, the most damaged by the bombing of the civil war, though it retains its pyramidal spire. The church, now in ruins after the Battle of Belchite and decades of neglect, is declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection).
Monument
Former Augustinian convent built between the 17th and 19th centuries in Mudéjar and Baroque style, today part of the ruins of the Pueblo Viejo de Belchite (Zaragoza), destroyed during the 1937 battle of the Civil War. The Francoist regime left the ruins unrebuilt as a war memorial; today the complex is protected and receives more than 10,000 visitors a year on guided tours.
Nature
Vast cereal and scrub steppes, a habitat for protected steppe birds in the centre of Aragon.
Curiosity
The Civil War routes of the Campo de Belchite link the traces of the 1937 Aragón front between Belchite, Fuendetodos, Codo and Plenas. Between 24 August and 6 September 1937 the Battle of Belchite took place, as part of the Republican offensive in the area; in the first days, the nearby towns of Quinto, Mediana and Codo, scarcely garrisoned, fell into the hands of the Republican army on 26 August.
Activity
Belchite's winter festival is held beside the ruins of the old village, encircled and taken by the Ejército Popular between 24 August and 6 September 1937 in house-to-house fighting; the new Belchite began to be built in 1940 and was inaugurated on 13 October 1954.
Activity
The medieval market of Belchite is held in April (24 and 25 April in the 2026 edition) beside the ruins of the old village, with night-time fire parades, street theatre and simulated historical combat.
Monument
The town hall of Belchite is that of the so-called "new village", built between 1940 and its inauguration in 1954 beside the ruins of old Belchite; it was placed in the civic centre of the new settlement, alongside the square, library and casino, following the style of "traditional Aragonese houses with exposed brick" within a rationalist urban plan inspired by Piacentini.
Historical milestone
On 18 June 1809 the Spanish troops of Joaquín Blake, fallen back after the defeat at María, were beaten at Belchite by Suchet's French army. The rout put an end to the Aragonese campaign of that summer and secured French dominance over the middle Ebro.
Historical milestone
Between 24 August and 6 September 1937 the Popular Army encircled and took Belchite as part of the offensive on Zaragoza. The house-to-house fighting left some five thousand casualties and razed the urban centre, which was left unusable as a place to live.
Historical milestone
The first stone of the new Belchite was laid in May 1940 beside the ruins of the old one, with the presence of minister Ramón Serrano Súñer. The inaugural ceremony was held on 13 October 1954, although the transfer of the residents was not completed until 1964.
Food and drink
Traditional stew of the comarca made with pork, chickpeas, potato, carrot, onion, tomato, garlic, bay leaf and paprika. It is cooked slowly and remains the reference dish in the eating houses of the villa.
Food and drink
Comarca-wide series in which the restaurants of several localities offer menus with local produce: ternasco, slaughter-time cured meats, empeltre oil and huerta vegetables. It has been held for more than a decade in successive annual editions.