Ayyub Castle
It is the most important of the towns founded in the Jalón valley thanks to its strategic situation as a crossroads for communication routes and its privileged natural location.
The Roman Bílbilis, located some six kilometres from the city, was the first large city in the area, although settlement on the riverbank is documented as far back as the Celtiberian period, where the Muslim foundation took place and where the most important fortified complex of the medieval period was built, with not only an impregnable natural enclave, but also the spectacular defensive construction – whose toponym “castle of Ayyub” means “Job’s fortress” and from which the present city takes its name. The earliest records in Arabic sources date from the emirate of Muhammad I, between 852 and 886, when the fortress was transformed into a city. This documented fact will determine the characterisation of the defensive enclave defined by five castles (Doña Martina, La Peña, La Torre Mocha, El Mayor and El Real) and long stretches of walls that protected both the inhabited farmhouse and areas of countryside and orchards that are currently built up.
After the Christian reconquest in 1120, the Christian city began to flourish, and in a short time it began to build, in a beautifully Muslim urban layout, a good number of civil and religious buildings in which the main style was Mudejar, conserving areas with an unquestionable Muslim and Jewish flavour, in the areas known as the Morería and the Judería.
It is the most important of the towns founded in the Jalón valley thanks to its strategic situation as a crossroads for communication routes and its privileged natural location.
The Roman Bílbilis, located some six kilometres from the city, was the first large city in the area, although settlement on the riverbank is documented as far back as the Celtiberian period, where the Muslim foundation took place and where the most important fortified complex of the medieval period was built, with not only an impregnable natural enclave, but also the spectacular defensive construction – whose toponym “castle of Ayyub” means “Job’s fortress” and from which the present city takes its name. The earliest records in Arabic sources date from the emirate of Muhammad I, between 852 and 886, when the fortress was transformed into a city. This documented fact will determine the characterisation of the defensive enclave defined by five castles (Doña Martina, La Peña, La Torre Mocha, El Mayor and El Real) and long stretches of walls that protected both the inhabited farmhouse and areas of countryside and orchards that are currently built up.
After the Christian reconquest in 1120, the Christian city began to flourish, and in a short time it began to build, in a beautifully Muslim urban layout, a good number of civil and religious buildings in which the main style was Mudejar, conserving areas with an unquestionable Muslim and Jewish flavour, in the areas known as the Morería and the Judería.
The Mudejar of Calatayud as a disseminating nucleus
UNESCO World Heritage 2001
The undeniable defensive character of the city shares the limelight with the imposing Mudejar heritage of the city, a style that burst into the city with force during the first half of the 14th century and whose main exponent is the collegiate church of Santa María, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001.
The Collegiate Church of Santa María la Mayor combines Mudejar, Renaissance and Baroque elements as a result of its long history, which dates back to the years of the conquest of the city by Alfonso I. According to the work of Professor Gonzalo M. Borrás Gualis, the ensemble formed by the cloister, the apse and the lower part of the bell tower constitute the oldest monumental part of the present collegiate church; they were built in the same construction period, between 1402 and 1412, and are linked to the patronage of Pope Benedict XIII, known as the Papa Luna and to the technical direction of its master builder Muhammad Rami. This tower, the result of several phases of construction from the beginning of the 15th century to the 18th century, stands at more than 70 metres high and is the tallest of all the remaining towers in Aragon.
Alongside Santa María, the city preserves a monumental ensemble which, in each of its examples, shows us the history of the city and its powerful historical position. The religious buildings of San Andrés, San Pedro de los Francos, Nuestra Señora de la Peña, the collegiate church of Santo Sepulcro or San Juan el Real stand in a hamlet with a simple layout but with imposing palace-houses, interesting urban elements such as the Ocho Caños fountain and the Puerta de Terrer.
Time has turned the city into a perfect combination of history and modernity thanks to the conservation of such attractive places as the Convento de los Dominicos, the Hospedería del Pilar, the Arco de San Miguel or the Mesón de la Dolores.
The undeniable defensive character of the city shares the limelight with the imposing Mudejar heritage of the city, a style that burst into the city with force during the first half of the 14th century and whose main exponent is the collegiate church of Santa María, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001.
The Collegiate Church of Santa María la Mayor combines Mudejar, Renaissance and Baroque elements as a result of its long history, which dates back to the years of the conquest of the city by Alfonso I. According to the work of Professor Gonzalo M. Borrás Gualis, the ensemble formed by the cloister, the apse and the lower part of the bell tower constitute the oldest monumental part of the present collegiate church; they were built in the same construction period, between 1402 and 1412, and are linked to the patronage of Pope Benedict XIII, known as the Papa Luna and to the technical direction of its master builder Muhammad Rami. This tower, the result of several phases of construction from the beginning of the 15th century to the 18th century, stands at more than 70 metres high and is the tallest of all the remaining towers in Aragon.
Alongside Santa María, the city preserves a monumental ensemble which, in each of its examples, shows us the history of the city and its powerful historical position. The religious buildings of San Andrés, San Pedro de los Francos, Nuestra Señora de la Peña, the collegiate church of Santo Sepulcro or San Juan el Real stand in a hamlet with a simple layout but with imposing palace-houses, interesting urban elements such as the Ocho Caños fountain and the Puerta de Terrer.
Time has turned the city into a perfect combination of history and modernity thanks to the conservation of such attractive places as the Convento de los Dominicos, the Hospedería del Pilar, the Arco de San Miguel or the Mesón de la Dolores.
Information
Town Hall: 976 881 700
www.calatayud.es
Association for the Integral Development of the Region of Calatayud and the Region of Aranda
galcar.es
VISIT CALATAYUD
976 633 296
DO YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE?
Aragon Tourism
turismodearagon.com
Tourism Calatayud Region
comarcacalatayud.com
Centre for Bilbilitan Studies
cebilbilitanos.com
The Cid’s Way
www.caminodelcid.org
Territorio Mudéjar Network
The city council has been a founding member of Territorio Mudéjar since 13 September 2018.
He is a member of the Board of Directors as Vice-President.
Projects Mudejar Territory in Calatayud
Monuments | View the project
Pedagogy | View the project
Podcast | View the project
Mudetrad Project | View the project
Mudejar plaster | View the project
Mudejar and Euclidean Geometry | View the project
Didactic Mudejar, the guide | View the project
‘Circular’ Family walks | View the project
Mudéjar RGB | View the project
Assessment of the muslim-friendly potential of Territorio Mudéjar | View the project
Calatayud in the social media
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