Tobed

Tobed parish
	Tobed - location view
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Aragon
Province :	Zaragoza
Comarca :	Comunidad de Calatayud
Coordinates	41 ° 20 ′ N , 1 ° 24 ′ W Coordinates: 41 ° 20 ′ N , 1 ° 24 ′ W
Height :	638 msnm
Area :	32.39 km²
Residents :	214 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density :	6.61 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	50325
Municipality number ( INE ):	50255
administration
Website :	Tobed

Tobed is a northern Spanish city and a municipality ( municipio ) with 214 inhabitants (at January 1, 2019) in the far west of the province of Zaragoza in the autonomous community of Aragon . The municipality belongs to the poorly populated Serranía Celtibérica . The local church is one of the most important buildings of the early Mudejar style in Aragon and belongs to the world heritage of UNESCO .

Location and climate

The place Tobed is a good 70 km (driving distance) southwest of the provincial capital Saragossa near the border with the old Castilian province of Soria at an altitude of about 640 m . The historically significant city of Calatayud is a good 44 km to the west. The climate is temperate to warm; Rain (approx. 405 mm / year) falls spread over the year with the exception of the rather dry summer months.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2017
Residents	987	996	820	281	224

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 ) in the second half of the 20th century .

economy

For centuries, the residents of the place lived directly (as small farmers or servants) or indirectly (as traders or craftsmen) from agriculture, which also included cattle breeding (sheep, goats, chickens). The land of the landlord family as well as their own fields and gardens were worked. Mainly in summer many houses are rented out as holiday apartments (casas rurales) today .

history

So far, no finds have been made from the Celtiberian , Roman or Visigothic times. In the 8th century Arab-Moorish armies advanced to the north of the Iberian Peninsula . The area was after the reconquest ( reconquista ) of the city of Zaragoza in 1118 by the Aragonese King Alfonso I christian again. Around the middle of the 12th century the place was entrusted to the order of knights of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem .

Attractions

West facade of the Iglesia de Santa María

The main attraction of the place is the Iglesia de Santa María , built between 1356 and 1385 in honor of an image of the Blessed Mother, now kept in the Prado Museum in Madrid , whose west facade, made entirely of bricks, shows various Mudéjar ornaments - with the exception of the portal . These continue in the bell storey and on the north side of the church, whereas the south side and even the apse are rather unadorned. In the nave (nave) , the ornament joy continues, but in this case much on joints painting , that is based on optical illusion. The design of the choir with a triumphal arch motif is unusual . The central keystone of the cross-ribbed vault of the church has a gilded pendant in the Moorish-Islamic muqarnas style . The windows are filled with alabaster-like panes.

The church of San Pedro , built in the 16th century, is also a Mudejar church, but it is much simpler; only the narrow ribbon of tiles in the eaves area of the tower indicates what would have been possible. The nave has a stitch cap vault ; the polygonal broken apse shows a star vault .

Two shrines (peirónes) enrich the townscape.