Aragón

The name of Aragón has gained an outstanding place in the history of Spain. To look for the origins of Spain is to take into account the origin of both of the kingdoms creators of its political union.

Although the scholars do not agree about an own etymology of the name of Aragón, some data even attest the thesis according to which it derives from an ancient language, previous celta, in which the word "arra" or "altar" meant courses or water obstacles and "agon" several. In fact, two Pyrenees’s rivers still conserve that name: the Aragón River, that flows through Jaca, and the Aragón-Subordán, that flows into the first after crossing the Valley of Ebro. The name of Aragón actually makes us understand about its history and its pirenaico origin.

The Independent Community of Aragón (today) includes a territory characterized by its great extension and priviliged situation in Spain, as well as the European surroundings. With 47,645 kilometers square of surface, it is the fourth Spanish Independent Community, only surpassed in size by Castile and Leon, Castile-La Mancha and Andalusia. Regarding its surface it outreaches European countries like Belgium, Holland or Denmark.

Concerning its strategic location, its border with Europe through the Pyrenees is remarkable (some sources define Aragón as the "Door of Europe" for the rest of Spain). Besides, the Zaragoza capital and the Valley of Ebro are formed like center of interest, insofar as their distance to the Spanish neuralgic centers of Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia is similar, which turns Zaragoza into a communication center.

When consulting a physical map of the Peninsula, the eyes of any observer catch the great depression that extends from the Cantabrian Mountain range to the Mediterranean Coast.

In the center of that depression the Ebro River flows, whose river basin adopts - whims of Mother nature - the triangular form. A triangle that has at its bases the coast Mare Nostrum and whose sides - the Pyrenean and Iberian System -come together in the Cantabrian vertex.

In the center of that river basin Aragón is located, which - without any doubt presents a geographic untit,  centered and conditioned by its great river, the Ebro.

Geography

Aragon's Pyrenees include splendid and varied landscapes with soaring peaks, deep canyons, dense forests and spectacular waterfalls. Its rugged peaks include the Aneto (3,404 m), the highest in the range, the misty Monte Perdido (3,355 m), Perdiguero (3,221 m), Cotiella (2,912 m) and many others.

Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park, near the border with France, boasts some of the most spectacular scenery in Europe with its canyons, frozen lake caverns, numerous waterfalls and varied wildlife, many species of which are endemic to the Pyrenees.

The principal valleys in the mountains include those of Hecho, Canfranc, Tena, Benasque and others. In the Pyrenean foothills, or pre-Pyrenees, the Mallos de Riglos are a famous natural rock formation.

Further south, the Ebro valley, irrigated by the river Ebro, is a rich and fertile agricultural area covered with vast fields of wheat, barley and other fruit and vegetable crops. South of Zaragoza and the Ebro valley, the elevation rises again into the Iberian System, a mountain range that separates the Ebro valley from the Meseta Central and plains of Castile-La Mancha. The highest mountain of this range is the Moncayo (2,313 m).

Climate

Aragon's climate can be defined like continental moderate and is determined by its elevation changes. Several Aragonese climate zones can be observed: very cold in the Pyrenees mountains, a cold stop of the Pyrenean interior such as at Albarracín, temperate in the Pyrenean and Iberian pre-mountainous areas, a sub warm area in the central depression and the depressions of the Martín-Ebro river, Sariñena and Matarraña.

In the middle of Aragon, which is only 200 metres (660 ft.) above sea level, the annual average temperature is around 14 °C (57 °F). To the north and south of the Ebro valley, where the elevation rises up to 500 m (1,600 ft.) above sea level, the temperature drops by two degrees. In the mountains, between 600 m (2,000 ft.) and 1,000 m (3,300 ft.), observed temperatures are between 11 and 12 °C (52 and 54 °F).

Architecture

Mudéjar Architecture of Aragon is an aesthetic trend in the Mudéjar style, which is centered in Aragon and has been recognized in some representative buildings as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The chronology of the Aragonese Mudejar occupies the period from the 12th until the 17th century and includes more than a hundred architectural monuments located predominantly in the valleys of the Ebro, Jalón and Jiloca, where a huge population of Mudejar and Muslim descent were settled, although many of them were nominally Christian. They kept their workshops and craft traditions, and rarely used stone as building material.

The first manifestations of Aragonese Mudejar have two origins: First, a palatial architecture linked to the monarchy, which amends and extends the Aljafería Palace, maintaining ornamental Islamic tradition, Muslim builders and traditional architecture, that links to the Romanesque building. At the same time, first brick buildings were erected, often in Hispanic-rooted ornamental tracery, which can be seen in churches like in Daroca. Initially, this one had been constructed as a stone building, but was finished in the 13th century with Mudejar brick panels.

Churches in some districts (such as San Pablo of Zaragoza) or small towns do not usually have aisles, but locations for additional altars are provided by chapels between the nave buttresses. Commonly, above those side chapels you find a closed gallery or ándite (walkway), with windows to the exterior and interior of the temple. This constitution is called a church-fortress, and its prototype might be the church of Montalbán.

Typically the bell towers display an extraordinary ornamental development, whose structure is inherited from the Islamic minaret: mostly quadrangular with a central pier, whose spaces are filled by staircase approximation vaults, as in the Almohad minarets. On this body the tower used to be placed, usually polygonal, even if there are examples of octagonal towers.

Gastronomy

The Autonomous Region of Aragon has inherited its rich gastronomy from the different cultures which have passed through the region over the centuries. It knows how to exploit its local products and today its cuisine is described as classical. The great geographical diversity of this region has given rise to top quality products which are as varied as the land's orography.

The Aragonese cuisine is based on popular stews which vary in accordance with the area where they are prepared. Traditional recipes are currently being modernized but will always maintain their characteristic simplicity and honesty.

Meat generally is the basis of the Aragonese cuisine and chilindrón, its most typical recipe. Chicken, lamb and pork are all found in this sauce as easily as other meat, though it is most commonly prepared with chicken. In the Upper Aragón region, in the heart of the mountains, more rustic cooking is popular: lamb and goat roasted on the spit, lamb and vegetable stew (a la pastora) and the so-called espárragos montañeses (lit: mountain asparagus), which are in fact calves' tails.

For centuries the Pyrenees have provided food through hunting and the same is true today. The region has wild boar, deer and rabbit in abundance and much of it finds its way onto the menus of the region's restaurants.

The Aragonese market garden offers a great variety of fruit, vegetables and pulses, including the thistle and borage which, due to their increasing popularity, are often seen on the menus of top restaurants, haricot beans, onions from Fuentes, asparagus from the banks of the River Ebro and the oils from Lower Aragon, whose excellent quality is due to the olive used in their preparation.

The fruit grown in Aragon is admired throughout the rest of mainland Spain: pears, apples, cherries, plums, peaches with D.O. from Calanda and recently cultivated strawberries, which are as good as the best wild specimens.

Festivals & Events

Popular festivals or fiestas in Aragon go beyond the commonplace. Although the Jota (traditional dance) becomes the mark that identifies a whole people and is a constant factor of any festive occasion, Aragon folklore has known how to keep alive its deep roots in the in the ancestral world of the legendary and primitive. In fact, the actual religious feast days such us Saint John, the Carnival or the Corpus are edified intelligently over Pre-Christian and Pagan rites established by the rhythms of ancient life, ruled by the sun cycles, the seasons and the harvests.

Among the marked political type fiestas, such as the Day of Aragon on the 23rd of April (Saint George), and the purely religious ones, such us the Easter Week processions, there are endless amount of festivities with deep folklore, such as the carnivals or the bullfights. Thus, in any village or town of Aragon, and at any time of the year, we can see very popular festive events that everyone can take part in.