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CANTAVIEJA

You will enjoy your spare time on wonderful trips and other activities, such as visiting the Region's Historic and Artistic Heritage and the interpretation centres. You can also do sports as hunting and fishing, hiking (marked trails GR8 and short hiking trails), climbing or mushroom picking seasonally, never losing touch with nature.

This town is the real head of Alto Maestrazgo, reminiscent of a general stubbornness. It lies on a sheer and craggy rock similar to a ship?s hull, bearing a unique and spectacular skyline, at 1200 m above sea level.

It has an area of 125 km2 and 726 inhabitants. The economy is based mainly on agriculture and livestock, although it has a rich forest heritage and blooming tourism.

The oldest evidences in all the Maestrazgo Cultural Park, dating back to Palaeolithic, where found through archaeological dig in Cantavieja. These findings were in the Cueva de los Toros (Bulls Cave).

Just as many other towns in Maestrazgo, Cantavieja entered History after the Christian Reconquista. In 1197 it was conquered by the Christians, and the control was given to Knights Templar. It became an important estate ruling over other surrounding towns such as La Iglesuela del Cid, Mirambel, Cañada de Benatanduz, Villarluengo, Tronchón and La Cuba.

The Main Square (Plaza Mayor) has to be highlighted, as it is undoubtedly one of the most monumental ones in the Maestrazgo Cultural Park. It has arches on three sides, two of them occupied by the Town Hall and the Church. The medieval Town Hall has undergone several reforms. The main elements are the shield on the façade and the large assembly hall with a Gothic wooden roof. The Parish Church is also the result of a long evolution. It keeps the Gothic arches at the doorway, the tower-passage, with a small medieval façade and the big three-nave building with ambulatory built in the 18th century, with cathedral proportions.

The Church of San Miguel is a small Gothic gem, with an interesting Gothic tomb inside. It is located next to San Roque?s Hospital. The dominating element in the skyline is the Ruined Castle, converted after the Carlist Wars in a monumental Calvary centred on a circular-shaped shrine located on the place the Keep used to be.

In the rest of the town there are many other interesting architectural elements such as shields, popular architectural solutions, the Shrine of Loreto, Bayle?s house, as well as an interesting architecture all over the municipal area.

FIND MORE INFORMATION: https://turismomaestrazgo.org/pueblo/cantavieja/

calvario de noche

 

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