Ejea de los Caballeros

Ejea de los Caballeros (pronounced [eˈxea de los kaβaˈʎeɾos]); Aragonese: Exeya d'os Caballers; (commonly known simply as Ejea) is a town and municipality in the province of Zaragoza, part of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It is one of the five main towns in the Comarca de las Cinco Villas ("Shire of the Five Villages"). The five villages are Ejea de los Caballeros itself, Sos del Rey Católico, Uncastillo, Sádaba and Tauste.

Ejea de los Caballeros (Spanish)

Exeya d'os Caballers (Aragonese)
Church of the Saint Savior
Nickname(s): 
Ejea
Ejea de los Caballeros (Spanish)
Location in Spain
Ejea de los Caballeros (Spanish)
Ejea de los Caballeros (Spanish) (Spain)
Ejea de los Caballeros (Spanish)
Ejea de los Caballeros (Spanish) (Europe)
Coordinates: 42°7′45″N 1°8′14″W
Country Spain
Autonomous community Aragon
ProvinceZaragoza
ComarcaCinco Villas
VillagesEjea de los Caballeros, Bardenas, El Bayo, El Sabinar, Farasdués, Pinsoro, Rivas, Santa Anastasia, Valareña
Government
 • TypeMayor–council
 • BodyAyuntamiento de Ejea de los Caballeros
 • MayorTeresa Ladrero (PSOE)
Area
 • Total609.92 km2 (235.49 sq mi)
Elevation
318 m (1,043 ft)
Population
 (2018)[1]
 • Total16,605
 • Density27/km2 (71/sq mi)
Demonymsejeano (m), ejeana (f)
Postal code
50600
Websitewww.ejea.es

They became part of the medieval Kingdom of Aragon in 1105 during the Spanish Reconquista, as Muslim rule in the region was falling back.

Main sights

The town retains many medieval buildings, including:

  • the Romanesque church of Santa María de la Corona. It was renewed in 1649–1650.
  • church of San Salvador (Romanesque-Gothic transition style). It has a 16th-century portal with Romanesque sculptures
  • Church of our Lady the Virgin of the Olive (Nuestra Señora la Virgen de la Oliva), renovated in 1765 over a pre-existing medieval building

Villages

The municipality of Ejea de los Caballeros comprises nine different centres of population:

  • Ejea de los Caballeros
  • Bardenas
  • El Bayo
  • El Sabinar
  • Farasdués
  • Pinsoro
  • Rivas
  • Santa Anastasia
  • Valareña

Rivas and Farasdués are two historic villages that have been dependencies of Ejea for decades. The other six centres were built in the nineteen fifties and sixties in order to settle inhabitants and farmers to grow irrigation crops because of the building of Yesa reservoir and Bardenas irrigation channel that brought water to this villages, among others (Sádaba, Tauste and others).

Culture

The main local fiesta honours the Virgin of the Olive, the local saint. In June, it is also celebrated the patron saint, Saint John the Baptist, in a medieval way. Another local festival commemorates The Vote Day (January 14), an event during the Black Plague, when the townsfolk voted for the bringing of the Virgin of the Olive across the town to worship her. The plague is purported to have ended that day in Ejea de los Caballeros.

Notable people

Twin towns

References
  1. Municipal Register of Spain 2018. National Statistics Institute.


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