Daroca

Daroca municipality
	Daroca - town view
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Aragon
Province :	Zaragoza
Comarca :	Campo de Daroca
Coordinates	41 ° 7 ′ N , 1 ° 25 ′ W Coordinates: 41 ° 7 ′ N , 1 ° 25 ′ W
Height :	800 msnm
Area :	52.05 km²
Residents :	1,983 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	38.1 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	50360
Municipality number ( INE ):	50094
administration
Website :	Daroca

Daroca is a city and a Spanish municipality ( municipio ) with 1,983 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the southwest of the province of Saragossa in the autonomous region of Aragon . The small town belonging to the poorly populated Serranía Celtibérica is divided into two parts: a lower and an upper town.

Location and climate

The city of Daroca is a good 86 km (driving distance) southwest of the provincial capital Saragossa at an altitude of about 780 to 850 m ; the lovely town of Calatayud is only about 38 km northwest. The climate is temperate to warm; Rain (approx. 400 mm / year) falls over the year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2017
Residents	3,102	3,641	3,847	2,286	2,044

The increasing mechanization of agriculture in the second half of the 20th century led to a continuous loss of jobs and thus to an ongoing population decline.

economy

To this day, the inhabitants of the place live directly or indirectly (as farmers, workers, traders or craftsmen) from agriculture. Viticulture played a major economic role in the 19th century until the outbreak of the phylloxera crisis , which some winemakers are trying to build on. Today agriculture is increasingly being supplemented by smaller businesses in the food industry .

history

Celtic , Roman and Visigoth traces have not yet been discovered in the region and so it can be assumed that the place was probably founded by the Moors around the year 800 . After the Christian reconquest ( reconquista ) of Aragón around 1100, the place developed further, but was disputed between Aragón and Castile; so he was in the 13./14. Century secured with an imposing city fortifications, which in addition to the 116 towers also included three castles (castillos) . Peter IV of Aragón (r. 1336-1387) gave the place full city rights (villa) in 1366 . The territorial dispute with Castile only ended with the marriage of the Catholic Kings Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragón in 1469. In the 16th century the place experienced its heyday.

Attractions

and display information about the image

View of Daroca (1668)

Restored city wall

The city wall , which was around four kilometers long and up to ten meters high, was the largest in Aragón; it has been partially restored. Four city gates are still preserved: Puerta Baja , Puerta Alta , Portal de Valencia and Puerta del Arrabal .
The ruins of the Castillo Mayor tower over the place. The castle was built by the Moors in the old Berber style of rammed earth constructed; the Christian parts were bricked up.
From the Castillo de San Cristobal is only the former keep (Torre del homenaje) .
The Castillo de San Jorge was built in the 14th century .
In the 16th century the smaller city mountain was tunnelled (Mina de Daroca) .
The church of San Juan de la Cuesta has an apse in the Mudejar style . There are buttresses for a vault, but the nave today has a gable roof that is open to the inside .
The church of San Miguel still has its Romanesque portal. The interior is dominated by simple late Romanesque and early Gothic forms.
The almost free-standing bell tower of the Iglesia de Santo Domingo de Silos towers over the old city center.
In the three-aisled and star-vaulted collegiate church Colegiata de Santa Maria de los Sagrados Corporales , late Gothic and Renaissance forms predominate .