Calatayud (2008 pop. 21,905) is a city and
municipalityA municipality is an administrative entity composed of a clearly defined territory and its population and commonly denotes a city, town, or village, or a small grouping of them. A municipality is typically governed by a mayor and a city council or municipal council.The notion of municipality...
in the province of
ZaragozaZaragoza is a province of northern Spain, in the central part of the autonomous community of Aragon. It is bordered by the provinces of Lleida, Tarragona, Teruel, Guadalajara, Soria, La Rioja, Navarre, and Huesca....
in
AragónAragon is an autonomous community of Spain. Located in northeastern Spain, the region comprises three provinces from north to south: Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza .Aragon's northern province of Huesca borders France and is positioned in the middle of the Pyrenees...
,
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
lying on the river Jalón, in the midst of the
Sistema IbéricoThe Sistema Ibérico is a mountain range of medium height bordering on the Meseta Central in Spain. The main peaks are Moncayo , Monte San Lorenzo , Pico de Urbión , Javalambre and Peñarroya , and it separates the Meseta Central from the Ebro plain...
mountain range. It is the second-largest city in the province after the capital,
ZaragozaZaragoza, also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza province and of the autonomous community and former Kingdom of Aragon, Spain...
, and the largest town in Aragón other than the three provincial capitals. It is the seat of the
comarca of Comunidad de Calatayud.
The city has the title "Muy noble, leal, siempre augusta y fidelisima ciudad de Calatayud".
Calatayud (2008 pop. 21,905) is a city and
municipalityA municipality is an administrative entity composed of a clearly defined territory and its population and commonly denotes a city, town, or village, or a small grouping of them. A municipality is typically governed by a mayor and a city council or municipal council.The notion of municipality...
in the province of
ZaragozaZaragoza is a province of northern Spain, in the central part of the autonomous community of Aragon. It is bordered by the provinces of Lleida, Tarragona, Teruel, Guadalajara, Soria, La Rioja, Navarre, and Huesca....
in
AragónAragon is an autonomous community of Spain. Located in northeastern Spain, the region comprises three provinces from north to south: Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza .Aragon's northern province of Huesca borders France and is positioned in the middle of the Pyrenees...
,
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
lying on the river Jalón, in the midst of the
Sistema IbéricoThe Sistema Ibérico is a mountain range of medium height bordering on the Meseta Central in Spain. The main peaks are Moncayo , Monte San Lorenzo , Pico de Urbión , Javalambre and Peñarroya , and it separates the Meseta Central from the Ebro plain...
mountain range. It is the second-largest city in the province after the capital,
ZaragozaZaragoza, also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza province and of the autonomous community and former Kingdom of Aragon, Spain...
, and the largest town in Aragón other than the three provincial capitals. It is the seat of the
comarca of Comunidad de Calatayud.
The city has the title "Muy noble, leal, siempre augusta y fidelisima ciudad de Calatayud". Calatayud became the first democratic municipality in 1977, because elections were held one day before all the rest of
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
, to prepare for a visit by King Juan Carlos I. The
AVEAlta Velocidad Española is a service of high speed trains operating at speeds of up to on dedicated track in Spain. The name is literally translated from Spanish as "Spanish High Speed", but also a play on the word , meaning "bird"....
high-speed train line from
MadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. It is the third-most populous municipality in the European Union after Greater London and Berlin, and its metropolitan area is the third-most populous city by urban area in the European Union after Paris and London.The city is located on the river...
to
BarcelonaBarcelona is the capital, most populous city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, with a population of 1,615,908 in 2008. It is the 11th-most populous municipality in the European Union and sixth-most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris,...
stops in Calatayud.
History
The city was founded on the site of a Celt-Iberian settlement by the Romans with the name
Augusta BilbilisAugusta Bilbilis was a city founded by the Romans in the province of Hispania Tarraconensis. It was the birthplace of Martial ca. 40 AD...
and was the birthplace of the poet
MartialMarcus Valerius Martialis , was a Latin poet from Hispania best known for his twelve books of Epigrams, published in Rome between AD 86 and 103, during the reigns of the emperors Domitian, Nerva and Trajan...
in 40 CE. The site of the ruins of Augusta Bilbilis are approximately four kilometers to the north of the modern city of Calatayud. The modern town was founded by the
MoorsThe description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of Muslim people of Berber, Black African and Arab descent from North Africa, some of whom came to conquer and occupy the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. The North Africans termed it Al Andalus, comprising most...
around the Ayyub castle, circa 716 CE.
The name Calatayud came from the Arabic
Qal`at 'Ayyūb = "Ayyub's fort". The ancient inhabitants of Bilbilis moved to the new site. Occuppying a strategic placement between the central
mesetaMeseta can refer to the following geographic features in Spanish-speaking countries, for is from the Spanish for table :*Meseta Central refers to the high plains of central Spain...
of Spain and the
EbroThe Ebro or Ebre is Spain's most voluminous river. Its source is in Fontibre . It flows through cities such as Miranda de Ebro, Logroño, Zaragoza, Flix, Tortosa, and Amposta before discharging in a delta on the Mediterranean Sea in the province of Tarragona.-Name:The Romans named this river Iber...
valley the city retained its importance in succeeding centuries. By the eleventh century a substantial
Jewish communityCalatayud in Spain had a large Jewish community as early as the reign of Abd al-Rahman III. In 1882, while workmen were digging the foundation of a house, they discovered a marble tombstone bearing a Hebrew inscription in memory of a certain Samuel b. Solomon, who died Marheshwan 11, 4680...
was present, surviving the
reconquistaThe Reconquista was a period of 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula succeeded in retaking the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslims...
until the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492. The city was re-conquered for by Alfonso I of Aragón in 1119. Many surviving examples of
mudéjarMudéjar is the name given to individual Moors or Muslims of Al-Andalus who remained in Christian territory after the Reconquista but were not converted to Christianity...
church architecture show that the Moorish influence lived on.
The city was the capital of its own province for three years in the 19th century. During the
Peninsular WarThe Peninsular War was a contest between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars...
s a notable siege of French occupied Calatayud led to its capture by guerillas in 1811.
Attractions
One of the most notable
MudéjarMudéjar is the name given to individual Moors or Muslims of Al-Andalus who remained in Christian territory after the Reconquista but were not converted to Christianity...
towers of Aragón is the 15th century bell tower of the collegiate church of Santa María, which was built on the site of a mosque. The Muslim fortress is the biggest and oldest of the Muslim fortresses of the Iberian peninsula. The church of "San Pedro" was founded by
Ferdinand II of AragónFerdinand the Catholic was King of Aragon , Sicily , Naples , Valencia, Sardinia, and Navarre, Count of Barcelona, de jure uxoris King of Castile and then Regent of that country also from 1508 to his death, in the name of his mentally unstable daughter Joanna the...
("Fernando el catolico") and it was there that the first Cortes (Parliament) of Aragon was held in 1411.
Fiestas
- Easter
Easter is the most important annual religious feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to Christian scripture, Jesus was resurrected from the dead on the third day from his crucifixion...
- Pilgrimage (romerio) in honour of el Cristo de Ribota, May 1
- Saint Íñigo's Day, June 1
- Saint Roch's Day, August 14-16
- Virgen de la Peña, September 8-12
See also
- Calatayud (DO)
Calatayud is a Spanish Denominación de Origen for wines located in the southwestern corner of the province of Zaragoza about 90 km from Zaragoza and covers over 5,600 ha, extending over 46 different municipalities, including Calatayud itself...
- Mudéjar
Mudéjar is the name given to individual Moors or Muslims of Al-Andalus who remained in Christian territory after the Reconquista but were not converted to Christianity...
- Comunidad de Calatayud
The Comunidad de Calatayud is one of twelve comarcas of the province of Zaragoza in Aragón in Spain. The administrative headquarters are in the city of Calatayud. Local wine achieved Denominación de Origen status in 1990 and it is the second largest wine producing area in Aragón afterCariñena...
External links