Moncayo is a 15 km long and about 7 km wide

mountain chain A mountain chain is a row of high mountain summits, a linear sequence of interconnected or related mountains,Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, p 87. . or a contiguous ridge of mountains within a larger m ...

giving name to the

Tarazona y el Moncayo Tarazona y el Moncayo is a comarca in the Province of Zaragoza, within the Aragon region of northeastern Spain. Geography Tarazona is the capital of and most important city in the Comarca of Tarazona y el Moncayo. The comarca is located at the ...

comarca A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march ...

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 ...

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") , i ...

. The Moncayo's highest summit, San Miguel (), is the highest point in the 500 km long

Sistema Ibérico The Iberian System ( es, Sistema Ibérico, ) is one of the major systems of mountain ranges in Spain. It consists of a vast and complex area of mostly relatively high and rugged mountain chains and massifs located in the central region of th ...

. The Moncayo is located between the provinces of

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributa ...

in Aragon and

Soria Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 (INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial population. ...

Castile and León Castile and León ( es, Castilla y León ; ast-leo, Castiella y Llión ; gl, Castela e León ) is an autonomous community in northwestern Spain. It was created in 1983, eight years after the end of the Francoist regime, by the merging of the ...

.Gran Enciclopedia Aragonesa - Moncayo
/ref> The ridge's highest summits are usually covered in snow between October and May every year.

Description

Besides the San Miguel, the Moncayo massif includes two other peaks that are almost identical and are located close together, Cerro San Juan (2,283 m) and Peña Lobera (2226 m). This mountain was mentioned as ''Mons Caius'' by

Marcus Valerius Martialis Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman poet from Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of ''Epigrams'', published in Rome between AD 86 and ...

Ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom ...

times. The nearest large town to Moncayo is

Tarazona Tarazona is a town and municipality in the Tarazona y el Moncayo comarca, province of Zaragoza, in Aragon, Spain. It is the capital of the Tarazona y el Moncayo Aragonese comarca. It is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tarazona. ...

, with many old and historical buildings, located on the massif's northern side 10 km away from it. There are also smaller villages closer to the mountain. The Sierra de Nava Alta and Sierra del Bollón are eastern prolongations of the Moncayo Massif.

Hiking

Moncayo is one of the most popular hiking places in Spain and there is public transport to reach the mountain. There are few buses during the winter season, but almost hourly connections in the summer time. From the village of San Martín de la Virgen de Moncayo starts a road for hikers, ending at the village of Agramonte. The lower ranges of the mountain are covered by forest, including oak trees and spiky shrubs. There is a wide path at the northern side of the mountain zigzagging upwards. In the north east corner of the mountain is a

mountain hut A mountain hut is a building located high in the mountains, generally accessible only by foot, intended to provide food and shelter to mountaineers, climbers and hikers. Mountain huts are usually operated by an Alpine Club or some organization ...

made of stone which can be used as shelter in emergency situations. The shelter is located at the car park north of the Lobera peak before the slope. At the north west side of the mountain is a tiny river. One can ascend the highest peak going up from Agramonte or from the eastern side of the mountain range, also via Lobera peak. Going up takes about three hours. There are a few loose stone sections which can be avoided when following the paths. On the top of the highest peak one can see the Pyrenees in clear weather.

Features

References

External links

MendikatGeodesy - MoncayoParque Natural de la Dehesa del Moncayo
{{Mountain ranges of the Iberian System

Moncayo Moncayo is a 15 km long and about 7 km wide mountain chain giving name to the Tarazona y el Moncayo comarca, Aragon, Spain. The Moncayo's highest summit, San Miguel (), is the highest point in the 500 km long Sistema Ibérico. Th ...

Mountains of Castile and León Mountain ranges of the Sistema Ibérico Two-thousanders of Spain

Description

Hiking

Features

See also

References

External links