Sierra de la Virgen is a mountain range in the Aranda and

Comunidad de Calatayud The Comunidad de Calatayud is one of the comarcas of Aragon, Spain. It is one of twelve comarcas (counties) within the province of Zaragoza in Aragón. The administrative headquarters are in the city of Calatayud. Local wine ( Calatayud (DO)) ...

comarcas,

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 ...

. It is located south of the

Moncayo Massif 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. The ...

between the valleys of the

Jalón Xaló (; es, Jalón ), is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Marina Alta in the Valencian Community, Spain. Geography The town of Jalón is located in the Jalón Valley. The Jalón or Gorgos river crosses the town, which has a length of . ...

and the Aranda rivers, rising north of the N-234 road, roughly between

Calatayud Calatayud (; 2014 pop. 20,658) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Province of Zaragoza, within Aragón, Spain, lying on the river Jalón (river), Jalón, in the midst of the Sistema Ibérico mountain range. It is the second-larges ...

and Torrelapaja.

Geography

The ridge is aligned in a NW-SE direction. Its highest point is Cabrera (1,433 m); other important summits are Virgen de la Sierra (1,413 m), Cucuta (1,300 m), San Cristóbal (1,264 m), Pico de Morés (1,186 m) and Monte de la Lezna (1,173 m). The adjacent Sierra de Vicort stretches east of Sierra de la Virgen in the same direction. The name of this mountain chain derives from the Santuario de la Virgen de la Sierra, a

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

shrine located in the heights of the mountain range, about 22 km to the north of Villarroya de la Sierra town. These mountains are mostly covered with low maquis shrub and they have been repopulated with

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

since the 20th century. The Sierra de la Virgen is often subject to

wildfires A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...

in periods of prolonged drought. Native trees include

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...

and ''Carrasca'' (''

Quercus ilex ''Quercus ilex'', the evergreen oak, holly oak or holm oak is a large evergreen oak native to the Mediterranean region. It is a member of the ''Ilex'' section of the genus, with acorns that mature in a single summer. Description An evergreen tr ...

''),Sierra de la Virgen - Hoces del Jalón
/ref> among others. There are other smaller mountain chains named "Sierra de la Virgen" in Spain. One is in

Ciudad Real Province The province of Ciudad Real () is a province in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It is bordered by the provinces of Cuenca, Albacete, Jaén, Córdoba, Badajoz, and Toledo. It is partly located in ...

, part of the

Montes de Toledo The Montes de Toledo are one of the main systems of mountain ranges in the Iberian Peninsula. They divide the drainage basin of the Tagus from the basin of the Guadiana. The highest peak is high La Villuerca. Description The Montes de Toledo are ...

, and the other is located in Córdoba Province,

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

References

External links

*
Sierra de la Virgen - Tourism in Aragon

Hiking in Sierra de la Virgen

Virgen Virgen is a municipality in the district of Lienz in the Austrian state of Tyrol. It includes part of the Virgen valley in the Venediger Group mountain range, and extensive parts of the municipality are in High Tauern National Park. The history ...

{{Aragon-geo-stub

Geography

See also

References

External links