Valderrobres () or Vall-de-roures () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

and the major town of 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, ...

'' of

Matarraña Matarraña () or Matarranya () is a comarca in eastern Aragon, bordering the Spanish Autonomous Communities of Catalonia and Valencia. It is located in Teruel Province, in the mountainous Sistema Ibérico area. Its capital is Valderrobres, and ...

in the

province of Teruel Teruel (Catalan: ''Terol'' ) is a province of Aragon, in the northeast of Spain. The capital is Teruel. It is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Castellón, Valencia (including its exclave Rincón de Ademuz), Cuenca, Guadalajara, and Zar ...

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 in view of the landscape of the northwestern foothills of the

Ports de Tortosa-Beseit Ports de Tortosa-Beseit (), also known as Ports de Beseit, or simply as Els Ports or Lo Port by locals, is a limestone mountain massif located at the north-eastern end of the Sistema Ibérico, a complex system of mountain ranges and massifs in ...

, by the

Matarranya River The Matarranya ( es, Río Matarraña, ca, Riu Matarranya) is a river in the provinces of Teruel and Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain. It begins its course at 1,200 m northeast of the Tossal d'Encanader, Ports de Beseit. limestone massif near La Pobla ...

, a tributary to the right of the

Ebro , name_etymology = , image = Zaragoza shel.JPG , image_size = , image_caption = The Ebro River in Zaragoza , map = SpainEbroBasin.png , map_size = , map_caption = The Ebro ...

. Valderrobres is part of the

Taula del Sénia The Taula del Sénia () or Mancomunitat de la Taula del Sénia is a commonwealth or free association of municipalities made up of 22 towns, totalling up to 100,000 people, of some of the comarcas that make up the center of the historical region ...

free association of municipalities. The town has a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

church of Santa Maria, a Gothic castle Carmelo López Esteruelas, Manuel Siurana Roglan: ''Valderrobres paso a paso''. Ayuntamiento de Valderrobres, 2005. . and a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

townhall building. The soprano

Elvira de Hidalgo Elvira Juana Rodríguez Roglán (December 28, 1891 – January 21, 1980), known professionally as Elvira de Hidalgo, was a prominent Spanish coloratura soprano, who later became a teacher and vocal coach. Her most famous pupil was Maria Ca ...

was born in Valderrobres in 1891. This town and the surrounding ''comarca'' are considered by Catalans a part of

La Franja La Franja (; "The Strip"; an, Francha ) is the area of Catalan-speaking territories of eastern Aragon bordering Catalonia, in Spain. It literally means ''"the strip"'' and can also more properly be called (Aragonese Strip), (Western Strip) or ...

and the local dialect is a western variant of

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

close to

Valencian Valencian () or Valencian language () is the official, historical and traditional name used in the Valencian Community (Spain), and unofficially in the Carche, El Carche comarca in Región de Murcia, Murcia (Spain), to refer to the Romance lan ...

. The name of the town means "Valley of the

Oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

s", referred to the presence of Portuguese oak (''roure'' or ''robre'' in local Catalan). However, the main trees in the forests of this town are the Aleppo pine and the black pine, followed by the

Evergreen oak Live oak or evergreen oak is any of a number of oaks in several different sections of the genus ''Quercus'' that share the characteristic of evergreen foliage. These oaks are not more closely related to each other than they are to other oaks. ...

Photo gallery

File:Río Matarraña en Valderrobres.jpg, The Matarranya river flowing through the town File:Valderrobres, Matarraña.jpg, File:Valderrobres desde su Castillo.jpg, File:Valderrobres - Panorámica.jpg, File:Valderrobres castillo y puente.jpg,

References

External links

Pàgina web de l'Ajuntament de Vallderoures
La Franja Municipalities in the Province of Teruel Matarraña/Matarranya {{Teruel-geo-stub

Photo gallery

See also

References

External links