Alcalá de Moncayo

Alcalá de Moncayo municipality
Alcalá de Moncayo - View of the town
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Aragon
Province :	Zaragoza
Comarca :	Tarazona y el Moncayo
Coordinates	41 ° 47 ′  N , 1 ° 42 ′  W Coordinates: 41 ° 47 ′  N , 1 ° 42 ′  W
Height :	765  msnm
Area :	13.76 km²
Residents :	143 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density :	10.39 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	50591
Municipality number  ( INE ):	50014
administration
Website :	Alcalá de Moncayo

Alcalá de Moncayo ( Alcalá for short ) is a northern Spanish town and municipality ( municipio ) with 143 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the northwest of the province of Saragossa in the west of the autonomous region of Aragon . The place belongs to the poorly populated Serranía Celtibérica .

Location and climate

The place Alcalá de Moncayo is located on a hill at the foot of the Sierra de Moncayo, which is a maximum of 2315  m high, about 83 kilometers (driving distance) northwest of the provincial capital Saragossa near the border with the province of Soria at an altitude of about 765  m ; the lovely city of Tarazona is a good 17 kilometers north. The climate is temperate to warm; Rain (approx. 490 mm / year) falls over the year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2017
Residents	346	367	449	147	152

The mechanization of agriculture , the abandonment of small farms and the associated loss of jobs led to a significant decline in the population ( rural exodus ) in the second half of the 20th century .

economy

For centuries, the residents of the village lived directly or indirectly as self-sufficiency from agriculture, which also included livestock farming. Today orchards play an essential role in the economic life of the place; In addition, holiday apartments (casas rurales) are rented out.

history

Traces of Celtic, Roman, Visigoth and Moorish settlement have not yet been discovered. In the 8th century Arab-Moorish armies advanced into the upper Ebro Valley; sometimes the local castle is associated with the Moors ( Arabic القلعة, al Qalʿa = "castle", "fortress"). Around 1120 the area was recaptured by Alfonso I of Aragon ( reconquista ) . Later it was disputed between the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile ; this state of affairs only ended with the marriage of the Catholic Kings Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragón in 1469.

Attractions

• Only small remains of the former castle (castillo) and the city wall (murales) have been preserved. A round tower shows a twin window ( ajimez ) .
• The parish church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción dates from the mid-16th century. While the church was largely built from unhewn quarry stone, the two bell floors of the tower, built on an octagonal floor plan, are made of bricks in Mudejar style and decorated with colored tiles. The nave and the flat choir are spanned by late Gothic star vaults.

Surroundings

• The former Cistercian monastery Veruela , about three kilometers to the north, is comparatively well preserved. From 1877 to 1975 it was used by the Jesuit order . Today it is used for cultural purposes.

Web links

Commons : Alcalá de Moncayo  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Alcalá de Moncayo, tourism site - photos + information (Spanish)
• Añon de Moncayo, tourism site - photo + info (Spanish)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cifras oficiales de población resultantes de la revisión del Padrón municipal a 1 de enero . Population statistics from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (population update).
2. ↑ Alcalá de Moncayo - climate tables
3. ↑ Alcalá de Moncayo - population development
4. ↑ Alcalá de Moncayo - Castillo
5. ↑ Alcalá de Moncayo - Church
6. ↑ Alcalá de Moncayo - Church