Alhama de Aragon

Alhama de Aragón municipality
	Alhama de Aragón - thermal baths
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Aragon
Province :	Zaragoza
Comarca :	Comunidad de Calatayud
Coordinates	41 ° 18 ′ N , 1 ° 54 ′ W Coordinates: 41 ° 18 ′ N , 1 ° 54 ′ W
Height :	725 msnm
Area :	31.14 km²
Residents :	1,020 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	32.76 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	50230
Municipality number ( INE ):	50020
administration
Website :	Alhama de Aragon

Alhama de Aragón is a place and a municipality ( municipio ) with a total of 1,020 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the extreme west of the province of Saragossa in the autonomous region of Aragon in northeastern Spain . The place is a station on the Camino del Cid ; it belongs to the poorly populated region of the Serranía Celtibérica .

Location and climate

The place Alhama de Aragón is located on the north bank of the Río Jalón a good 110 km (driving distance) southwest of the provincial capital Saragossa at an altitude of about 665 m . The town of Calatayud, which is well worth seeing, is only about 27 km to the northeast. The climate is harsh in winter, but temperate to warm in summer; the rather sparse rain (approx. 405 mm / year) falls over the year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2017
Residents	805	1,637	1,906	1,178	1,053

As a result of increasing drought, the mechanization of agriculture , the abandonment of numerous small farms and the resulting lower demand for labor in rural areas, the number of inhabitants fell significantly in the second half of the 20th century as a result of rural exodus. On the other hand, the decline in population could be compensated somewhat by the development of bathing tourism.

economy

For centuries, the town's residents were essentially self-sufficient; There were no grocery stores etc. or markets, or only rarely. The few dealers, craftsmen and service providers were provided with the essentials by street vendors. Today, spa and wellness tourism play an important role in the local economy.

history

The thermal springs, which have a temperature of around 34 °, were probably already known to the Romans ; In any case, the traditional name Aquae Bilbilitanorum is associated with the place. In the 8th century the area was overrun by Arab-Moorish armies; The current place name Alhama (derived from Arabic حَمَّام Hammām , DMG ḥammām = "bath"). At the beginning of the 12th century they were forced to the south ( reconquista ) . In the followingyears,however, the region wasfought overbetween the kingdoms of Aragón and Castile ( Guerra de los Dos Pedros ) and could not be finally connected to Aragón until 1454.

Iglesia de la Natividad de Nuestra Señora

Attractions

Of the castle (castillo) built by the Moors and later taken over and rebuilt by the Christians , only the keep (torre del homenaje) remains.

The church of La Natividad de Nuestra Señora is dedicated to the birth of Mary; it dates from the years 1626 to 1657. While the church building, with the exception of the precisely hewn corner stones , was built from rubble stones , the two upper floors of the bell tower (campanar) are made of bricks in Mudejar style . The nave impressed by be of stucco manufactured baroque vaulted ceiling , a fabricated in a similar manner cupola and by a plurality of Churrigueresque carved altars (retablos) .