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") , i ...

consisting of two villages, the original village and ''Canfranc Estación'', which developed with the establishment of

Canfranc International railway station Canfranc International railway station ( es, Estación Internacional de Canfranc) is a formerly international railway station in the village of Canfranc in the Spanish Pyrenees. The Somport railway tunnel, inoperative since 1970, which carries t ...

to serve railway traffic across the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

Political information

*''

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

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 largest ...

(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 Huesca (; an, Uesca) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the autonomous community of Aragon. It is also the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and of the comarca of Hoya de Huesca. In 2009 it had a population of 52,059, almo ...

*autonomous community of

Aragón Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises th ...

Canfranc village

The name of the village is from ''Campus Franci'', literally the field of the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...

. 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

over the pass of

Somport Somport or Col du Somport, known also as the Aspe Pass or Canfranc Pass, (el. 1632 m.) is a mountain pass in the central Pyrenees on the border of France and Spain. Its name is derived from the Latin ''Summus portus''. It was one of the most popu ...

. It was founded between 1080 and 1090 by

Sancho Ramírez Sancho Ramírez ( 1042 – 4 June 1094) was King of Aragon from 1063 until 1094 and King of Pamplona from 1076 under the name of Sancho V ( eu, Antso V.a Ramirez). He was the eldest son of Ramiro I and Ermesinda of Bigorre. His father was the f ...

, 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 The Treaty of Canfranc was an agreement, signed in October 1288, between Edward I of England and Alfonso III of Aragon about the release of Charles II of Naples, who had been captured by the Admiral of Sicily, Roger of Lauria Roger of Lauria ( ...

mediated by

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vas ...

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 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 sout ...

, 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

retablo A retablo is a devotional painting, especially a small popular or folk art one using iconography derived from traditional Catholic church art. More generally ''retablo'' is also the Spanish term for a retable or reredos above an altar, whether ...

s, 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 The Pau–Canfranc railway is a partially-closed long international single-track standard gauge railway line connecting Pau in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques region of France, climbing via the Gave d'Aspe valley and tunneling under the Pyrenees, to C ...

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Also, British espionage smuggled information and people from

Vichy France Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its te ...

. 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 Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

, 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.

Principal festivities

Canfranc-Pueblo celebrates the

Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution '' Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by ...

(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 origi ...

, Nicaragua *

Aspen, Colorado Aspen is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 7,004 at the 2020 United States Census. Aspen is in a remote area of the Rocky Moun ...

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 primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Notes

References

External links

CAI Aragón Turismo
(in English)

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