Logbook · 8 places

What to see and do in Pozuel de Ariza

What to see and do in Pozuel de Ariza (Comunidad de Calatayud, Zaragoza): 8 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

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

How far each place is from the centre of Pozuel de Ariza

Towns near Pozuel de Ariza

What to see in Monteagudo de las Vicarías 1.8 km · 27 places
What to see in Fuentelmonge 8 km · 13 places
What to see in Monreal de Ariza 8 km · 2 places
What to see in Ariza 9.6 km · 4 places
What to see in Bordalba 9.6 km · 1 place
What to see in Santa María de Huerta 9.9 km · 13 places
What to see in Torlengua 11 km · 10 places
What to see in Almaluez 12 km · 9 places

Spain › Aragon › Zaragoza › Comunidad de Calatayud › Pozuel de Ariza

What to see and do in Pozuel de Ariza

Pozuel de Ariza
Village
Pozuel de Ariza is a municipality at the extreme southwest of the province of Zaragoza, in the Comunidad de Calatayud district, right on the border with Soria, of which it was, in the Middle Ages, the last village of the Kingdom of Aragon before reaching the neighbouring Monteagudo de las Vicarías. It sits at 783 metres above sea level beside the río Nágima, covers 22.81 square kilometres and today has 15 inhabitants, compared with 90 in the mid-19th century. In 1895 the Valladolid-Ariza railway line opened, with a station at Monteagudo de las Vicarías, closed to passenger traffic in 1985. It preserves the church of the Asunción, within the archpriesthood of the Alto Jalón, and the hermitages of Nuestra Señora de la Torre and San Pascual; its main festivities, in honour of San Roque, are celebrated on 16 August.
Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción
Monument
Church of medieval origin, of fortified appearance, with a nave of four bays covered by a barrel vault and a false transept with a vault of tiercerons and liernes. The bell tower, of the 16th century, occupies the whole width of the nave and carries buttresses at the corners.
Hermitage of Nuestra Señora de la Torre
Monument
The hermitage of Nuestra Señora de la Torre, also called de San Marcos, stands at the foot of the Castillo de la Raya, built right on the border between Zaragoza and Soria; it was erected in 1375 to mark the signing of the Treaty of Almazán, deliberately on both Aragonese and Castilian ground, although the current building corresponds to a later renovation. The border line between the old kingdoms runs through the middle of the nave: from the baptismal font to the chancel, dating from the early 16th century, belongs to Pozuel de Ariza; from the font to the entrance, with the 1660 extension, belongs to Monteagudo de las Vicarías. It holds a mudéjar roof structure of limas moamares, a technique of which few examples remain in Aragon, and it was restored in 2019.
Valley of the Nágima river
Nature
The río Nágima rises in Bliecos, in the province of Soria, and runs about 25.5 kilometres before flowing into the Jalón on its left bank at Monreal de Ariza. Before reaching that final stretch it passes through Serón de Nágima, Torlengua, Fuentelmonge and Monteagudo de las Vicarías -where its waters feed a reservoir- and through Pozuel de Ariza, running just a few steps from its town centre. The floodplain it forms along its course shapes the municipal area of Pozuel de Ariza, a flat terrain where rain-fed cereal farming alternates with small irrigated market gardens beside the river.
Festivities of San Roque
Activity
The main festivities are held on 16 August in honour of San Roque. As in so many depopulated towns of the boundary between Aragon and Castile, it is the date that gathers in the municipality the residents and those who keep a house open there.
The baptismal font of the two crowns
Curiosity
The hermitage of Nuestra Señora de la Torre rises exactly on the old boundary between Aragon and Castile. Those who received baptism in its font enjoyed for that reason the double condition of Aragonese and Castilian, a privilege born of its frontier location.
The Peace of Almazán
Historical milestone
Pozuel was in the Middle Ages the last town of the Kingdom of Aragon before Castile. The War of the Two Peters, between Pedro IV el Ceremonioso and Enrique II de Trastámara, ended with the peace of Almazán, and to commemorate it the hermitage of la Torre was raised in 1375.
Ternasco Bilbilitan style
Food and drink
In the Comunidad de Calatayud the reference dish is ternasco roasted in the bilbilitano style: shoulder of lamb marinated with bay, thyme and garlic and baked slowly over sliced potatoes. It is accompanied by shepherd's migas with chorizo and belly pork.