Calatorao

Calatorao Municipality
	Calatorao - View of town with Iglesia de San Bartolomé
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Aragon
Province :	Zaragoza
Comarca :	Valdejalón
Coordinates	41 ° 31 ′ N , 1 ° 21 ′ W Coordinates: 41 ° 31 ′ N , 1 ° 21 ′ W
Height :	345 msnm
Area :	48.15 km²
Residents :	2,881 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	59.83 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	50280
Municipality number ( INE ):	50068
administration
Website :	Calatorao

Calatorao is a small town and a municipality ( municipio ) with a total of 2,881 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the center of the province of Saragossa in the autonomous region of Aragon in northeastern Spain .

Location and climate

The place Calatorao is located on the east bank of the Río Jalón a good 50 km (driving distance) southwest of the provincial capital Saragossa at an altitude of about 345 m . The climate is temperate to warm; the rather sparse rain (approx. 360 mm / year) falls over the year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2017
Residents	1,920	2,295	3,348	2,725	2,845

Despite 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 has remained essentially constant in the 20th century.

economy

For centuries, the town's residents were essentially self-sufficient ; There were no grocery stores or markets, or only rarely. Even the few traders, craftsmen and service providers essentially provided themselves with everything they needed for life. The situation only improved with the improvement of the infrastructure in the second half of the 20th century.

history

The first traces of settlement in today's municipal area of Calatorao go back to the Bronze Age ; from the time around 500 BC There are indications of a nearby Celtiberian settlement, which is associated with the place Nertobriga or Nertobris , which was passed down textually from the Romans . In Roman times, the place was probably on the road connecting Emerita Augusta ( Mérida ) via Augusta Bilbilis ( Calatayud ) to Caesaraugusta ( Saragossa ). In the Visigothic period , King Leovigild (ruled 569-586) had the walls of the settlement reinforced. In the 8th century the area was overrun by Arab-Moorish armies, which made Saragossa the provincial capital of the emirate (later caliphate) of Córdoba . During its collapse, the provincial governors made themselves independent and founded the Taifa Kingdom of Zaragoza (1018–1110). A few years later (1118) the Moors under Alfonso I of Aragón could be pushed south ( reconquista ) . In 1213 Peter II bequeathed the city to the church of Nuestra Señora del Pilar in Saragossa, in whose hands the place remained for more than 600 years - despite disputes with local landlords (señores) .

Attractions

Calatorao - Castillo de los Priores

The crenellated palace castle of the Castillo de los Priores , which was probably built at the beginning of the 16th century on the site of a previous Moorish building, is a reminder of the dependence on the church council (cabildo) of the Basilica del Pilar in Saragossa . Inside there is an old kitchen and a Moorish bathroom.

The single-nave church of San Bartolomé , newly built in 1842, is a strict, completely brick- built church in the neoclassical style . The stitch cap vaulted nave has side chapels that contribute significantly to the stability of the structure.

Today's pilgrims' hospital (Hospital de Peregrinos) stands on the site of the former main mosque (Mezquita Mayor) .

The Capilla del Santo Cristo is a classical sandstone building from the 18th century.

A staircase leads down to a step well (Fuente de las Escaleras) - one of the few known examples in Europe - which was probably already known in the Moorish times .