Arandiga

Arándiga municipality
Arándiga - town view
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Aragon
Province :	Zaragoza
Comarca :	Comunidad de Calatayud
Coordinates	41 ° 31 ′  N , 1 ° 30 ′  W Coordinates: 41 ° 31 ′  N , 1 ° 30 ′  W
Height :	460  msnm
Area :	50.22 km²
Residents :	302 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density :	6.01 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	50266
Municipality number  ( INE ):	50032
administration
Website :	Arandiga

Arándiga is a northern Spanish town and municipality ( municipio ) with only 302 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 Arándiga is located on a castle-crowned rock on the south bank of the Río Aranda approx. 40 km (as the crow flies) southeast of the approximately 2315  m high Sierra de Moncayo almost 70 km (driving distance) southwest of the provincial capital of Saragossa near the border with the Old Castilian province of Soria in one Height of approx. 460  m . The climate is temperate to warm; Rain (approx. 375 mm / year) falls throughout the year, with the exception of the dry summer months.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2017
Residents	1,124	1,121	1,197	503	308

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 ) since the middle 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. The processing of sheep's wool was an important economic factor in the 16th and 17th centuries. Today orchards, viticulture and especially garlic cultivation play important roles in the economic life of the place; In addition, holiday apartments (casas rurales) are rented out.

history

Traces of Celtiberian , Roman or Visigoth settlement have not yet been discovered. In the 8th century Arab-Moorish armies advanced into the upper Ebro Valley; the local castle is sometimes associated with the Moors . Around 1120 the area was recaptured by Alfonso I of Aragon ( reconquista ) . Later it was disputed between the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile ( Guerra de los Dos Pedros ) ; this dispute only ended with the marriage of the Catholic Kings Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragón in 1469.

Attractions

Castle in Arándiga

• A castle (castillo) probably already existed in Moorish times; it was expanded by the Christians in the 13th and 14th centuries, but probably destroyed in the conflict with Castile.
• The church of San Martín de Tours is an unadorned single-nave church with side chapels , both inside and out , which was built around the middle of the 17th century instead of a Romanesque predecessor. The nave has galleries and a stitch cap vault .

Surroundings

• The Ermita de Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción dates from the 18th century.
• Five of the former 30 iron water wheels ( norias ) still exist , which were used to irrigate fields and gardens (huertas) well into the 20th century .

Web links

Commons : Arándiga  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Arándiga, tourism site - photos + information (Spanish)
• Arándiga - Photos + 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. ↑ Arándiga - climate tables
3. ↑ Arándiga - population development
4. ↑ Arandiga - Castillo
5. ↑ Arandiga - Castillo
6. ↑ Arándiga - Church
7. ↑ Arándiga - Ermita