Torrellas (Zaragoza)

Torrellas municipality
Torrellas - Torrelas Iglesia San Martín de Tours
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Aragon
Province :	Zaragoza
Comarca :	Tarazona y el Moncayo
Coordinates	41 ° 54 ′  N , 1 ° 46 ′  W Coordinates: 41 ° 54 ′  N , 1 ° 46 ′  W
Height :	570  msnm
Area :	2.53 km²
Residents :	250 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density :	98.81 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	50512
Municipality number  ( INE ):	50261
administration
Website :	Torrellas

Torrellas is a town in northern Spain and a municipality ( municipio ) with 250 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the northwest of the province of Zaragoza in the west of the autonomous region of Aragon . The place belongs to the poorly populated Serranía Celtibérica .

Location and climate

The town of Torrellas is located on the Río Queiles only approx. 12 km (as the crow flies) northeast of the Sierra de Moncayo, which is at most approx. 2315  m high, approx. 81 km (driving distance) north-west of the provincial capital of Saragossa near the border with the Old Castilian province of Soria at an altitude of approx. 500 up to 570  m ; the small towns of Tarazona and Borja, which are worth seeing , are approx. 5 km east and 26 km south-east, respectively. The climate is temperate to warm; Rain (approx. 465 mm / year) falls over the year with the exception of the summer months.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2017
Residents	946	869	943	305	254

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 village lived directly or indirectly as self-sufficiency from agriculture, which also included livestock farming. Today orchards and viticulture play important roles in the economic life of the place; In addition, holiday apartments (casas rurales) are rented out.

history

Traces of Celtiberian , Roman , Visigoth and even Moorish settlement have not yet been discovered; In the 19th century, however, a stone walled in a house with the ancient place name Lombacos was discovered. In the 8th century Arab-Moorish armies advanced into the upper Ebro Valley; around 1120 the area was recaptured by Alfonso I of Aragón ( reconquista ) . Later it belonged to the House of Luna and 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. With the expulsion of the Moriscos in 1610, the place lost three quarters of its inhabitants in one fell swoop.

Attractions

Torrellas - Church tower of San Martín de Tours

• A castle (castillo) existed in the 12th and 13th centuries; sparse remains of the keep (torre del homenaje) are integrated into several houses.
• The church of San Martín de Tours , built in the 15th century instead of a mosque , still retains evidence of its past: the floor plan of the building is almost square and therefore has no apse ; the three naves are almost the same height. The slender church tower, made entirely of brick , in the Mudejar style , was added around the mid-16th century.
• The Plaza Mayor is partially lined with arcaded houses.

Web links

Commons : Torrellas (Saragossa)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Torrellas, tourism site - photos + information (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. ↑ Torrellas / Tarazona - climate tables
3. ↑ Torrellas - Population Development
4. ↑ Torrellas Church
5. ↑ Torrellas - church tower