Albarracín () is a Spanish town, in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

Teruel Teruel () is a city in Aragon, located in eastern Spain, and is also the capital of Teruel Province. It has a population of 35,675 in 2014 making it the least populated provincial capital in the country. It is noted for its harsh climate, with ...

, part of the

autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

. According to the 2007 census (INE), the municipality had a population of 1075 inhabitants. Albarracín is the capital of the

mountainous A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

Sierra de Albarracín Comarca Sierra de Albarracín Comarca is a comarca in the Province of Teruel, Aragon region, northeastern Spain. It is located in mountain ranges of the Sistema Ibérico (Iberian System). Geography The Comarca de la Sierra de Albarracín is in an area ...

Albarracín is surrounded by stony hills and the town was declared a ''Monumento Nacional'' in 1961. The many red sandstone boulders and cliffs surrounding Albarracín make it a popular

rock climbing Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically and ...

location, particularly for boulderers.

History

The town is named for the Hawwara Berber dynasty of the Banu Razin which was their capital from the early eleventh century until it was taken by the

Almoravids The Almoravid dynasty ( ar, المرابطون, translit=Al-Murābiṭūn, lit=those from the ribats) was an imperial Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire in the 11th century that ...

in 1104. From 1167 to 1300, Albarracín was an independent lordship known as the Sinyoría d'Albarrazín which was established after the partition of the

Taifa of Albarracín The Taifa of Albarracín () was a medieval Berber taifa kingdom. The polity existed from 1012 to 1104, and was centered at the city of Albarracín. It was led by the Berber dynasty of the Banu Razin tribe, which arrived in the peninsula after th ...

under the control of

Pedro Ruiz de Azagra Pedro Ruiz de Azagra (died 1186) was a Navarrese nobleman and soldier who established the independent Lordship of Albarracín, which lasted until 1284. He was the second son of Rodrigo Pérez de Azagra. His elder brother was Gonzalo Ruiz and his y ...

. It was eventually conquered by

Peter III of Aragon Peter III of Aragon ( November 1285) was King of Aragon, King of Valencia (as ), and Count of Barcelona (as ) from 1276 to his death. At the invitation of some rebels, he conquered the Kingdom of Sicily and became King of Sicily in 1282, pres ...

in 1284, and the ruling family, the House of Azagra was deposed. The last person to actually hold the title of Señor de Albarracín was

Juan Núñez I de Lara Juan Núñez I de Lara y León (died Córdoba, April 1294), also known as "''el Gordo''" or "the Fat", was a Spanish noble. He was the head of the House of Lara, Lord of Lerma, Amaya, Dueñas, Palenzuela, Tordehumos, Torrelobatón, and la ...

, although his son,

Juan Núñez II de Lara Juan Núñez II de Lara ( – 1315), nicknamed ''el Mozo'' or ''el de la Barba'' (the bearded one), was a Spanish noble, and head of the House of Lara in the service of the Kingdom of Castile. Amongst other titles, he was the Mayordomo Mayor ...

continued on as the pretender to the title until 1300 when the city and its lands were officially incorporated into the

Kingdom of Aragon The Kingdom of Aragon ( an, Reino d'Aragón, ca, Regne d'Aragó, la, Regnum Aragoniae, es, Reino de Aragón) was a medieval and early modern kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon, ...

Albarracín, Teruel, España, 2014-01-10, DD 051

Geography

The town is located in a

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex bank ...

of the Guadalaviar River. The Sierra de Albarracín mountain range rises to the South and West of the town.

Demographic growth

Gallery

Albarracín, Teruel, España, 2014-01-10, DD 034.JPG, City walls. Albarracín, Teruel, España, 2014-01-10, DD 069.JPG, Typical narrow street in the village. Albarracín, Teruel, España, 2014-01-10, DD 071.JPG, Cathedral. Albarracín, Teruel, España, 2014-01-10, DD 083.JPG, Square in Albarracín. Albarracín, Teruel, España, 2014-01-10, DD 094.JPG, Convento of Discalced Carmelites. Albarracín, Teruel, España, 2014-01-10, DD 157-159 HDR.JPG, Pinares de Rodeno Forest near Albarracín.

References

External links