Jaca

Municipality of Jaca / Chaca
	Jaca from Mount Rapitán
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Aragon
Province :	Huesca
Comarca :	Jacetania
Coordinates	42 ° 34 ′ N , 0 ° 33 ′ W Coordinates: 42 ° 34 ′ N , 0 ° 33 ′ W
Height :	820 msnm
Area :	406.34 km²
Residents :	12,988 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density :	31.96 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	22700
Municipality number ( INE ):	22130
administration
Mayor :	Enrique Villarroya Saldaña ( PSOE )
Website :	www.jaca.es

Jaca [ 'xaka ] ( Aragonese Chaca ) is a Spanish city in the province of Huesca ( Aragon ). Jaca is also the main town of the municipality of the same name .

geography

The city with 11,916 inhabitants (12,988 in the municipality on January 1, 2019) is located at 818 m above sea level on the southern edge of the Pyrenees on the Río Aragón . It is the capital of the Comarca Jacetania , which brings together many small communities in the northwest of the Spanish region of Aragon.

Community structure

The following villages and hamlets , some of which are no longer inhabited, belong to the municipality of Jaca : Abay , Abena , Acín , Ara , Araguás del Solano , Ascara , Asieso , Astún , Atarés , Badaguás , Banaguás , Baraguás , Barós , Bataraguá , Bergosa , Bernués , Bescós de Garcipollera , Binué , Botaya , Caniás , Espuéndolas , Fraginal , Gracionépel , Guasa , Guasillo , Ipás , Jarlata , Larrosa , Lastiesas Altas , Lastiesas Bajas , Lerés , Martillué , Navasa , Navasilla , Novés , Orante and , Villanovilla and , Osia , Ullé Yosa de Garcipollera .

climate

Due to the proximity to the Pyrenees , there is a moderate mountain climate.

history

The origins of Jaca are obscure, but are connected with the Iaccetani, whom the Greek historian and geographer Strabon mentions as one of the most important of the many ethnic groups in the Ebro basin. He adds that their area was the site of the fighting between Sertorius and Pompey in the 1st century BC. Was BC. Moorish authors mention Dyaka as one of the most important places in the Sarkosta Province (around Saragossa), but the city was never conquered by the Moors. When the Moorish governor of Huescas attacked the city in 760 AD, he was repulsed by the soldiers of King Iñigos and Count Aznar Galíndez in the Battle of the Río Aragón. The time of the reconquest by Spanish Christian rulers is unknown. The region around Jaca, the Jacetania, forms the historical core of Aragon.

In 824 AD, the county of Aragón was founded, which was added to the province of Navarre in the 10th century. After the death of Sancho III. from Navarre in 1035, however, Aragón rose to become an independent kingdom and Jaca became its capital. As a result, the Jacetania forms the historical core of Aragon.

Inside of the cathedral

Ramiro I , the first king of Aragon since 1035, made it a city and held a council here. In 1063, King Ramiro I built a cathedral approved by Pope Nicholas II , which is now considered the first and most important Romanesque cathedral on the Camino de Santiago in Spain. Jaca then became the seat of the bishops of Huesca until the Reconquista Huescas under Peter I in November 1096 . During this time Jaca was also the capital of Aragon. The city became the final bishopric of the Roman Catholic Church in 1572, based on a bull from Pope Pius V of July 18, 1571. The bishopric of Jaca belongs to the ecclesiastical province of Saragossa .

The outbreak of the plague and the events of the end of the Middle Ages plunged Jaca into a crisis that could only be overcome through the intervention of Ferdinand II (1452–1516) by creating a Spanish state unit to which Jaca also belonged.

However, since Ferdinand and his wife Isabella I of Castile took rigorous action against those of different faiths (Jews, Muslims) and foreigners, the city also lost a large part of the economically and culturally important population.

Jaca began to become a strategic place from which to defend against a possible French ( Huguenot ) invasion. For this reason Philip II (1527–1598) ordered the construction of various fortresses in the Pyrenees, among which the citadel of Jaca (commissioned in 1595) stands out. The building was only under Philip III. completed.

The real purpose of the fortification was to protect the border from attacks by French troops, although, paradoxically, its only involvement in a military conflict was during the War of Independence and the fortress was occupied by the French army and besieged by Spanish troops.

Entrance to the fortress
The fortress from the outside
The fortress from the inside
Cannon in the fortress

At the beginning of the 20th century, Jaca began to grow rapidly, in 1914 the medieval city walls were torn down and the city was expanded. The development of the city was otherwise very inconspicuous.

In December 1930 Jaca again caught the attention of Spain. An uprising in the Jaca garrison demanding the abolition of the monarchy and a democratic republic could only be put down with some difficulty.

Ice rink in Jaca

In the second half of the 20th century there was a change in the city, which is still felt today. The dominance of livestock and agriculture gave way to tourism. The Canfranc railway station formed the basis for an improved infrastructure that continues to support tourist development today.

Jaca, which is a short distance from various winter sports stations such as Astún and Candanchú , tried to host the Olympic Winter Games in 1998 , 2002 , 2010 and 2014 . However, the applications were all unsuccessful. Jaca was the destination of the 11th stage of the Tour de France 1991 and eight times in the Tour of Spain, the last time on the 6th stage of the Tour of Spain in 2012 .

The Winter Universiades 1981 and 1995 took place in Jaca.

Population development

Evolution of the population of Jaca

Source: INE - graphic processing for Wikipedia

Attractions

Jaca Cathedral

Romanesque Cathedral ( San Pedro )
Castillo de San Pedro citadel from 1592
Diocesan Museum ( Museo Diocesano de Jaca )
Michael's Bridge ( Puente de San Miguel )
Historic bell tower from 1440 ( La Torre del Reloj )
Rapitán Fortress ( El Fuerte de Rapitán )
San Juan de la Peña Monastery 22 km away

traffic

The roads N 330 and N 240 meet at Jaca. The city is part of the Camino de Santiago . Jaca is the eastern end point of the Autovía A-21 from Pamplona to Jaca, most of which is not yet completed. The city is also on the Zaragoza – Canfranc railway line , which continued to the French city of Pau until 1970 .

Town twinning

Spain Almería in Andalusia , Spain
Spain Elk in the Valencia region , Spain
France Oloron-Sainte-Marie in Aquitaine , France

sons and daughters of the town

Pedro Abarca (1619–1697), theologian and historian
Carlos Pauner (* 1964), mountaineer
José Luis Alonso (* 1976), ice hockey goalkeeper
Iván Gracia (* 1984), ice hockey player
Pablo Muñoz (* 1987), ice hockey player
Juan Muñoz (* 1990), ice hockey player
Adrián Betran (* 1990), ice hockey player
Alejandro Hernández (* 1991), ice hockey player
Ander Alcaine (* 1991), ice hockey goalkeeper

literature

Enciclopedia del Románico en Aragón: Huesca. Fundación Santa María la Real del Patrimonio Histórico, Volume I (Jacetania), Aguilar del Campoo 2016, ISBN 978-84-15072-94-2 , pp. 245-335.