Borja is a town of four thousand people in the Ebro valley, but its name is known far beyond Spain, because it is the origin of the Borgia family. Rodrigo Borgia, who became Pope Alexander VI, took his surname from this place, and the family's later fame in Italy, for poison, politics and portraits, makes a curious footnote to a quiet farming town. More recently, Borja became famous for a fresco. In 2012, an elderly parishioner's attempt to restore a painting of Christ in the nearby Sanctuary of Mercy turned it into an internet sensation, and visitors have come to see it ever since.
The Cueva de Moncín, about five kilometres from the town, is a different sort of heritage. It is a shelter in the foothills of the Moncayo, the highest mountain of the Iberian System at more than two thousand three hundred metres, and carries painting in the Levantine tradition, protected by UNESCO as part of the rock art of the Mediterranean basin in Spain. The ride also links it with a site called Abside, named for its curved, apse-like rock shape.
Wine is the story of the district. Borja lies at the heart of the Campo de Borja, a region that calls itself the Empire of Garnacha, and its hillsides are covered with old vines, some well over a hundred years old, making deep, fruity red wine. Tarazona, thirteen kilometres away, has a Mudéjar cathedral and an octagonal bullring built into the old houses, and is worth a detour.
The Cierzo, the cold north-west wind of the Ebro basin, is the main hazard for riders. It can blow hard for days, and on open stretches it will push a bike across a lane. The roads are otherwise straightforward, with good surfaces, long curves across the vineyards, and a few more interesting twists as they climb towards the mountain. Moncayo itself offers a long and rewarding ride, with views across the plain on a clear day, though snow and ice can close the upper road in winter.
Borja has fuel, food and a pleasant square, and Tarazona has more. Ainzón and Ambel are small, and quiet.