Vera de Moncayo

Vera de Moncayo municipality
Vera de Moncayo - town view
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Aragon
Province :	Zaragoza
Comarca :	Tarazona y el Moncayo
Coordinates	41 ° 50 ′  N , 1 ° 41 ′  W Coordinates: 41 ° 50 ′  N , 1 ° 41 ′  W
Height :	630  msnm
Area :	27.66 km²
Residents :	338 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	12.22 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	50580
Municipality number  ( INE ):	50280
administration
Website :	Vera de Moncayo

Vera de Moncayo ( Vera for short ) is a northern Spanish place and a municipality ( municipio ) with 152 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the northwest of the province of Saragossa in the west of the autonomous region of Aragon . The place belongs to the poorly populated Serranía Celtibérica .

Location and climate

Vera de Moncayo is located on the Río Huecha at the foot of the Sierra de Moncayo, which is a maximum of 2315  m high, about 78 km (driving distance) northwest of the provincial capital Saragossa near the border with the old Castilian province of Soria at an altitude of about 630  m ; the lovely town of Borja is about 14 km to the east. The climate is temperate to warm; Rain (approx. 475 mm / year) falls throughout the year with the exception of the summer months.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2017
Residents	873	1.314	1,326	482	375

The mechanization of agriculture , the abandonment of small farms and the associated loss of jobs led to a significant decline in 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

The Iron Age settlement of La Oruña is the oldest evidence of the community's history. Traces of Celtiberian , Roman and Visigoth settlement have not yet been discovered. In the 8th century Arab-Moorish armies advanced into the upper Ebro Valley; the local castle is sometimes associated with the Moors . Around 1120 the area was recaptured by Alfonso I of Aragon ( reconquista ) . Later it was disputed between the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile ; this dispute only ended with the marriage of the Catholic Kings Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragón in 1469.

Attractions

• A castle (castillo) probably already existed in Moorish times; it was in 1174 by King Alfonso II. the nearby Cistercian - Kloster Veruela via suitable. During the Guerra de los Dos Pedros (1356-1375) it served as a refuge against Castilian attacks.
• The Church of La Natividad de Nuestra Señora dates from the mid-16th century. While the church, with the exception of the portal and the corner stones, was built from rough, but plastered rubble stones, the three upper floors of the bell tower (campanar) - built on an octagonal floor plan - are made of bricks in Mudéjar style . The lower windows are walled up and decorated with decorative tiles; other tile ornaments can be found on the cornices of the tower and the nave . The nave and the polygonal choir are spanned by late Gothic star vaults.

Veruela Monastery

Surroundings

• About two kilometers southwest of the town is the founded in the 12th century and built Cistercian - Kloster Veruela .
• A late medieval stone cross (Cruz Negra) stands on a square stepped base directly in front of the monastery .
• Nearby is a Centro de Interpretación of the Iron Age site of La Oruña .
• Nearby is the Ermita de la Aparecida , a building donated by the Jesuit order.

Web links

Commons : Vera de Moncayo  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Vera de Moncayo, 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. ↑ Vera de Moncayo - Climate tables
3. ↑ Vera de Moncayo - population development
4. ↑ Vera de Moncayo - Castillo
5. ↑ Vera de Moncayo - Castillo
6. ↑ Vera de Moncayo - Church
7. ↑ Vera de Moncayo - Church