Restos mudéjares de palacio de la Aljaferí and Cueva de moncín I

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Restos mudéjares de palacio de la Aljaferí

   The Aljafería is the one great building in Zaragoza that tells you the city was once Muslim. It was built in the eleventh century as a pleasure palace for the Hudid rulers of the taifa of Zaragoza, a small independent kingdom that emerged when the caliphate of Córdoba collapsed, and its inner courtyard, with slender arches that interlace and curve, is one of the finest examples of Islamic architecture in the north of Spain. After the Christian conquest in 1118, it became a royal residence of the kings of Aragón, and the Catholic Monarchs added a sumptuous palace with gilded ceilings in the late fifteenth century. In the nineteenth century, it served as a barracks, and today it is the seat of the Aragonese parliament. The Mudéjar parts, the work of Muslim craftsmen who stayed after the conquest, are part of a UNESCO listing for Mudéjar architecture in Aragón.

   Read the complete Restos mudéjares de palacio de la Aljaferí write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Restos mudéjares de palacio de la Aljaferí is where the day begins. Next is Iglesia de Santa María.

2. 2. Iglesia de Santa María

   Somewhere in the folds of the Sierra de Algairén, south-west of Zaragoza, a bell tower pokes up above a cluster of ochre roofs, and that is your Iglesia de Santa María. Half the villages of Aragon have a church of that name, and this one does the job the others do: it marks the middle of a small place where the shop, the bar and the plaza all orbit the same square of stone. The nearest neighbours on the map are Cosuenda, Almonacid de la Sierra and Alpartir, each a few hundred souls, each about nine kilometres off.

   Read the complete Iglesia de Santa María write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Iglesia de Santa María comes up about 72 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cueva de moncín I.

3. 3. Cueva de moncín I

   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.

   Read the complete Cueva de moncín I write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 160 km into the recorded legs you reach Cueva de moncín I. Next is back through Iglesia de Santa María.

4. 4. back through Iglesia de Santa María

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Iglesia de Santa María write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Iglesia de Santa María, late in the day. Next is Restos mudéjares de palacio de la Aljaferí.

5. 5. Restos mudéjares de palacio de la Aljaferí

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Restos mudéjares de palacio de la Aljaferí write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Restos mudéjares de palacio de la Aljaferí. That is the ride.