Logbook · 8 places

What to see and do in Sádaba

What to see and do in Sádaba (Cinco Villas, Zaragoza): 8 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

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

How far each place is from the centre of Sádaba

Church of Sádaba 50 m
Castle of Sádaba 400 m

Towns near Sádaba

What to see in Layana 2.7 km · 2 places
What to see in Biota 7.2 km · 3 places
What to see in Castiliscar 10 km · 2 places
What to see in Carcastillo 14 km · 4 places
What to see in Uncastillo 14 km · 7 places
What to see in Asín 19 km · 2 places
What to see in Ejea de los Caballeros 20 km · 8 places
What to see in Murillo el Fruto 21 km · 3 places

Spain › Aragon › Zaragoza › Cinco Villas › Sádaba

What to see and do in Sádaba

Sádaba
Village
Sádaba is one of the historic Cinco Villas of Zaragoza, in Aragon, with 1,278 inhabitants (INE 2025), dominated by its imposing medieval castle, whose first structure was raised by Alfonso I the Battler in 1125 over an earlier Roman settlement. In 1223 a new castle was built, the origin of the name «Sádaba Nueva». The town experienced seigniorial disputes and border attacks in the Middle Ages, among them those of Arnaldo de Alascún, subdued in 1215 by Sancho VII the Strong of Navarre. Sold in 1384 to the nobleman Francisco de Villanueva, its inhabitants bought their freedom in 1399 and it never again left the Crown of Aragon. After the War of the Spanish Succession it received the title of «fidelísima» town and the fleur-de-lis for the loyalty of its inhabitants. In 1915 the railway to Gallur was opened.
Castle of Sádaba
Monument
The castle of Sádaba stands at the top of a small rocky hill east of the town, in the comarca of the Cinco Villas, rising some fifteen metres above the rest of the town, next to the river Riguel. The area was resettled in the 11th century, and around 1125 Alfonso I the Battler raised a fortress more primitive than the current one, of which the so-called King's Tower survives, next to the access gate. The castle preserved today, rectangular in plan with circular towers, was already built in the 13th century: around 1223 Fernando de Leret is documented as tenant in what was called Sádaba Nueva, the moment at which it is believed the present fortification was raised, in the midst of the dispute between Aragon and Navarre over control of the town, placed in 1215 under the protection of the Navarrese king Sancho VII the Strong.
Church of Sádaba
Monument
Church of Santa María, consecrated in 1549, in Levantine Gothic style, with a single nave, two chapels next to the presbytery, a spacious choir with stalls and an organ, and a polygonal presbytery with a main altarpiece dedicated to the Virgin.
Festivities of Sádaba
Activity
The patronal festivities of Sádaba, in honor of San José, are celebrated after the third Sunday of August, with bull runs, young-bull fights, fireworks and a parade with the image of the patron saint.
Roman mausoleum of the Atilii
Historical milestone
The Mausoleo de los Atilios, also known as the Altar de los Moros, is a Roman mausoleum from the 2nd or 3rd century, from the Late Empire period, located in the north of the municipal district of Sádaba, on the boundary with Uncastillo and Layana, near the Roman city of Los Bañales. It was declared a historic-artistic monument on 4 June 1931. Nearby ran the Roman road linking Caesaraugusta with Pompaelo and Asturica Augusta, passing through Farasdués and Sofuentes. With its arched façade and the inscription of the Atilia family that gives it its name, it is one of the best-preserved Roman tombs in the Ebro valley and can be visited on the outskirts of the town.
Sádaba buys its freedom from the Crown
Historical milestone
After centuries alternating between the Aragonese and the Navarrese orbit, the residents of Sádaba bought their freedom from seigneury in 1399 and were permanently incorporated into the patrimony of the Crown of Aragon, with their own jurisdiction over their district.
Cistercian monastery of Cambrón
Historical milestone
Founded in the twelfth century beside the river Riguel, the monastery of Santa María de Cambrón housed a female Cistercian community and was one of the monastic focal points of the Cinco Villas. It was left in ruins after the disentailment of the nineteenth century.
Rice of the Bardenas irrigated lands
Food and drink
The water of the Bardenas canal made it possible to introduce rice in the districts of Sádaba, Ejea and Valareña, where it is grown on heavy soils. The grain is destined for the stews of the area, beginning with the rancho and the rice dishes with rabbit and snails.