Ejea de los Caballeros (eˈxea de lo kaβaˈʎeɾos; commonly known simply as Ejea) is a town and municipality

Municipality

A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 in the province of Zaragoza

Zaragoza (province)

Zaragoza is a province of northern Spain, in the central part of the autonomous community of Aragon.Its capital is Zaragoza, which is also the capital of the autonomous community. Other towns in Zaragoza include Calatayud, Borja, La Almunia de Doña Godina, Ejea de los Caballeros and Tarazona.Its...

, part of the autonomous community of Aragon

Aragon

Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

. It is one of the five main towns in the Comarca

Comarca

A comarca is a traditional region or local administrative division found in parts of Spain, Portugal, Panama, Nicaragua, and Brazil. The term is derived from the term marca, meaning a "march, mark", plus the prefix co- meaning "together, jointly".The comarca is known in Aragonese as redolada and...

 de las Cinco Villas ("Shire of the Five Villages"). The five villages are Ejea de los Caballeros itself, Sos del Rey Católico

Sos del Rey Católico

Sos del Rey Católico is a historic town and municipality located in the comarca of Cinco Villas, province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain.-History:Sancho I of Pamplona founded Sos, in either 907 or 908, as a border town during the Reconquista....

, Uncastillo

Uncastillo

Uncastillo is a municipality in the province of Zaragoza, Aragon, eastern Spain. According to the 2010 census, the municipality has a population of 781 inhabitants....

, Sádaba

Sádaba

Sádaba is a municipality located in the province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain.Sights include the ancient Roman Mausoleum of the Atilii and the Sádaba Castle....

 and Tauste

Tauste

Tauste is a municipality located in the province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain.Sights include the Mudéjar church of Santa María, begun in the late 13th century and finished in the 14th century. It has an octagonal tower, a Baroque retable and a Renaissance retable of the Coronation of Mary.-Twin...

.

The became part of the medieval Kingdom of Aragon

Kingdom of Aragon

The Kingdom of Aragon was a medieval and early modern kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon, in Spain...

 in 1105 during the Spanish Reconquista

Reconquista

The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...

, as Muslim rule

Al-Andalus

Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...

 in the region was falling back.

Main sights

The town retains many medieval buildings, including:

• the Romanesque
  Romanesque architecture
  Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
  
   church of Santa María de la Corona. It was renewed in 1649-1650.
• church of San Salvador (Romanesque-Gothic transition style). It has a 16th century portal with Romanesque sculptures
• Church of our Lady the Virgin of the Olive (Nuestra Señora la Virgen de la Oliva), renovated in 1765 over a pre-existing medieval building

Villages

The municipality of Ejea de los Caballeros comprises nine different centres of population:

• Ejea de los Caballeros
• Bardenas
• El Bayo
• El Sabinar
• Farasdués
• Pinsoro
  Pinsoro
  Pinsoro is a village situated to the northwest of the city of Zaragoza in northeastern Spain.Its population is approximately 800. This village is located within the Ejea de los Caballeros municipal term.- History :...
  
  
• Rivas
• Santa Anastasia
• Valareña

Rivas and Farasdués are two historic villages that have been dependencies of Ejea for decades. The other six centres were built in the nineteen fifties and sixties in order to settle inhabitants and farmers to grow irrigation crops because of the building of Yesa reservoir and Bardenas irrigation channel that brought water to this villages, among others (Sádaba, Tauste and others).

Culture

The main local fiesta honours the Virgin of the Olive, the local saint. In June, it is also celebrated the patron saint, Saint John the Baptist, in a medieval way. Another local festival commemorates The Vote Day (January 14), an event during the Black Plague, when the townsfolk voted for the bringing of the Virgin of the Olive across the town to worship her. The plague is purported to have ended that day in Ejea de los Caballeros.

Twin towns

Marmande

Marmande

Marmande is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne département in south-western France.-Geography:Marmande is located 35 km north-west of Agen, on the southern railway from Bordeaux to Sète. The town is situated at the confluence of the Trec with the Garonne on the right bank of the latter river, which...

, France Portogruaro

Portogruaro

Portogruaro is a town and comune in the province of Venice, Veneto, northern Italy.-History:Portogruaro was founded in 1140, when the bishop of Concordia, Gervinus, gave right to several fishermen to settle here and build a river port. A castle existed here, however, as early as the 10th century...

, Italy