Canfranc () is a municipality in the Aragón Valley of north-eastern

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

consisting of two villages, the original village and ''Canfranc Estación'', which developed with the establishment of Canfranc International railway station to serve railway traffic across the Pyrenees.

Political information

*'' comarca'' of

Jacetania La Jacetania ( an, A Chacetania; french: Jacétanie) is a comarca in northern Aragon, Spain. It is located in the northwestern corner of the Huesca and Zaragoza provinces. The administrative capital is Jaca, with 13,374 inhabitants the larg ...

(capital at

Jaca Jaca (; in Aragonese: ''Chaca'' or ''Xaca'') is a city of northeastern Spain in the province of Huesca, located near the Pyrenees and the border with France. Jaca is an ancient fort on the Aragón River, situated at the crossing of two great ...

) *province of Huesca *autonomous community of Aragón

Canfranc village

The name of the village is from ''Campus Franci'', literally the field of the Franks. It was originally a small market village, as well as providing pilgrims on the Arles route of the Way of St. James their first respite after the difficult crossing of the Pyrenees over the pass of Somport. It was founded between 1080 and 1090 by Sancho Ramírez, King of Aragón. Canfranc was also a command post, protecting the borders and controlling taxes, which were donated to the Cathedral of

. On 29 October 1288, the Treaty of Canfranc mediated by Edward I of England was signed here, providing for the release of Charles II of Naples from his imprisonment by Peter III of Aragon. The village, which lies in the valley of the Aragón River, covers an area of and is situated at an altitude of . The remains to be seen include a Romanesque pilgrim's bridge and two churches of interest: ''Nuestra Señora de la Asunción'' (12th to 16th centuries) with four baroque retablos, and ''La Trinidad'' (16th century). The town was obliterated by fire in 1617 and again in 1944, after which the villagers for the most part moved to nearby Canfranc Station. The current population is 77.

Canfranc station

The village of Canfranc Estación (altitude 1190 m; population 454) was largely created due to the inauguration on 18 July 1928 of the Pau–Canfranc railway crossing the Pyrenees, and is best known for its huge abandoned railway station, built for transfers between Spanish and French trains, which used different railway gauges. The line was closed after an accident on 27 March 1970 destroyed the bridge at L'Estanguet, and the French side of the station was abandoned and fell into disrepair. There are rumours of "German gold" arriving here during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Also, British espionage smuggled information and people from Vichy France. Two trains a day now run between Canfranc and

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Province of Zaragoza, Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Ara ...

, and since 2010 the Spanish and French regional and national governments have discussed reopening the line to international traffic; this was planned for 2020. The abandoned railway's Somport Tunnel (7874 m) is now used as an emergency lane for the motorway's Somport Tunnel (8602 m) and is also used by the

Canfranc Underground Laboratory The Canfranc Underground Laboratory (LSC) is a world-class deep underground laboratory designed for research in neutrino physics, dark matter and other unusual phenomena in nature that require very low environmental radioactivity to be observed. ...

Principal festivities

Canfranc-Pueblo celebrates the Assumption of Mary (its Patron saint) on 15 August, while Canfranc Station holds festivities on the anniversary of the inauguration of its train station, 18 July.

Twin towns

Canfranc is twinned with: *

La Concordia, Jinotega La Concordia () is a municipality in the Jinotega department of Nicaragua. Twin towns La Concordia is twinned with: * Canfranc Canfranc () is a municipality in the Aragón Valley of north-eastern Spain consisting of two villages, the origin ...

, Nicaragua * Aspen, Colorado,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Notes

References

External links

CAI Aragón Turismo
(in English)

(Spanish only) {{Authority control Municipalities in the Province of Huesca Pyrenees