Cetina 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 ...

in the

province of Zaragoza Zaragoza (), also called Saragossa in English,''Encyclopædia Britannica''Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)/ref> is a province of northern Spain, in the central part of the autonomous community of Aragon. Its capital is Zaragoza, which is also t ...

, Aragon. It is situated at an altitude of in the south east of the province, in the

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)) ...

, some north east of

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

and south west 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 tributari ...

. The population in 2011 was 687. Cetina is also a

Spanish surname Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

(e.g.

Gutierre de Cetina Gutierre de Cetina (1519–1554) was a Spanish poet and soldier. Biography Cetina was born at Seville. He was the brother of Beltrán and Gregorio de Cetina, lesser known conquistadors. He served under Charles V in Italy and Germany, but retired ...

), originally used to refer to people who hailed from this town.

History

The origins of the settlement are unknown, but Ambrosio de Morales has identified Cetina as Certima or Celtima, a Celtiberian fort which was conquered by the Roman general Graco in 179 CE. The town lies on the Camino del Cid, the path taken by the medieval warrior, Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, known as El Cid, according to the anonymous medieval poem, " El Cantar de Mio Cid", which follows the course of the river Jalón. The relevant lines state that "and they entered the plain of Torancio, and halted between Ariza and Cetina; great were the spoils which they collected as they went along." Cetina was granted its own

fuero (), (), () or () is a Spanish legal term and concept. The word comes from Latin , an open space used as a market, tribunal and meeting place. The same Latin root is the origin of the French terms and , and the Portuguese terms and ; all ...

(law) by Guillén de Belles and Ramón Berenguer IV in the late 12th century. In 1808, during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

, the pueblo was pillaged by 18,000 French soldiers, commanded by

Marshal Ney Michel Ney, 1st Duke of Elchingen, 1st Prince of the Moskva (; 10 January 1769 – 7 December 1815), was a French military commander and Marshal of the Empire who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one o ...

who occupied the area. In 1936, twelve members of the

Unión General de Trabajadores The Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT, General Union of Workers) is a major Spanish trade union, historically affiliated with the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). History The UGT was founded 12 August 1888 by Pablo Iglesias Posse ...

, all hailing from Torrijo de la Cañada, a nearby village, were shot by

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

s and buried in a mass grave in Cetina. The bodies were exhumed in 2010 and returned to their families for burial.

Buildings of interest

The castle stands on a small hill in the centre of the settlement. It is believed that it was captured by El Cid on his passage through the area. The castle chapel has some noted

mudéjar Mudéjar ( , also , , ca, mudèjar , ; from ar, مدجن, mudajjan, subjugated; tamed; domesticated) refers to the group of Muslims who remained in Iberia in the late medieval period despite the Christian reconquest. It is also a term for ...

decoration and was the location of the marriage of the 17th-century poet

Francisco de Quevedo Francisco Gómez de Quevedo y Santibáñez Villegas, Knight of the Order of Santiago (; 14 September 1580 – 8 September 1645) was a Spanish nobleman, politician and writer of the Baroque era. Along with his lifelong rival, Luis de Góngora ...

to Doña Esperanza de Mendoza in 1634. Nearby is the 15th-century parish church dedicated to San Juan Bautista (

St John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

Contradanza

The "contradanza" is a folk dance peculiar to Cetina, held on 19 May, the feast of San Juan Lorenzo, a fourteenth-century martyr who was born in Cetina. It is performed by nine young men, four wearing black jackets trimmed with white, four wearing white jackets trimmed with black, whilst the ninth, "the Devil", wears red. The ritual sacrifice of the devil is enacted and the dancers create shapes with their bodies, the whole accompanied by a constant monotonous tune. The dance was first mentioned in reports from 1751. In 2012, the government of Aragon declared the contradanza to be a special part of Aragon's cultural heritage.

Fiestas

*17 January -

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

*19 May - San Juan Lorenzo and Santa Quiteria *22 May - pilgrimage to the hermitage of Santa Quiteria *19 October - Vergen de Atocha

References

External links

Villa de Cetina

Camino del Cid:Cetina
{{authority control Municipalities in the Province of Zaragoza