The small Aragonese town of Biel It is located at the foot of the Santo Domingo mountain range, included within the Cinco Villas Region, which also includes Ejea de los Caballeros, Tauste, Uncastillo, Sádaba and Sos del Rey Católico.
He lived his time of greatest splendor in the Middle Ages, when it housed a significant Sephardic population and was even the scene of the king's childhood Alfonso I the Battler. Testimony of all this are its winding streets of medieval origin, narrow and cobbled, and many of its buildings. Next, we are going to show you what you can see and do in Biel.
The castle fortress
Biel Fortress Castle
It is the great symbol of this town in Aragon. The first news of him dates back to the times of Sancho III the Greater of Navarra (992-1035), but it would become the king's palace when Sancho ramirez he gave it as a dowry to his wife Felicia de Roucy in 1071. It responds, therefore, to the Romanesque style and has been declared a Historical Monument. Specifically, it is part of the canon called tower or "donjón" typical of northern France.
The main and best preserved part is a big tower about twenty by ten meters that is truncated on its west face to adapt to the terrain. Precisely, in that part there is a passage that led to the main door. This, as corresponds to the type of defensive buildings, was on high. It is made of ashlar masonry and has many openings and some windows that could be the result of a XNUMXth century renovation.
As for the interior, it was organized in four large superimposed rooms. The floors were divided by wooden floors supported by semicircular arches and the noble floor was at the top. Each one added up to about one hundred square meters and, in total, reached a height of approximately twenty-five. Likewise, the lower one, dedicated to storage, was supported by a three-meter solid plinth. As for the roof, it is hipped and has a large eaves.
Finally, around the tower there is a fairly large oval enclosure. However, as it sits on a rocky surface, it is difficult to understand the size of that area and its dependencies.
You can visit this construction, but you must ask for the keys at the Town Hall. We advise you to do it because, although the flats no longer exist, the feeling of grandiosity What you will notice when you enter is impressive. Apparently, the Commonwealth of the Altas Cinco Villas plans to restore the monument to turn it into a castle life interpretation center during the medieval period.
The church of San Martín de Biel
The church of San Martín de Biel with the castle behind
You will see it next to the castle and it is no coincidence. The defensive fortresses at that time were military centers, but also religious. Therefore, the proximity between both buildings should not surprise you. However, it was a temple of Romanesque origin on which it was built, already in the XNUMXth century, which you can visit today.
It still has some elements of that style, but it is mostly a combination of Gothic, Renaissance and Mudejar features. Its exterior stands out for its austere shapes, the buttresses, the two-story tower adorned with tile edging and the gallery of small windows that is above the doorway, decorated with a segmental arch (as you know, this is the name given to the one that is smaller than a semicircle).
As for the interior, it has a single nave divided into three sections and crowned by a polygonal headboard. The beautiful cover is star-shaped ribbed vault. Likewise, on the sides there are several shallow chapels that open through arches to the nave. Among them, the Virgin of the Rosary. The choir of the temple is also interesting, which also rests on a segmental arch.
The church has been restored a few years ago. And, during the process, a ancient crypt located under the presbytery. Likewise, you can visit it and appreciate the remains of its paintings, which represented different passages in the life of Jesus Christ.
Other religious monuments
View of the town of Fuencalderas
The temple of San Martín de Biel is the main religious monument that you will find in the Zaragoza town, but not the only one in the area. In its municipal area, specifically in the town of fuencalderas, you have two others. It is about the hermitages of the Virgen de la Sierra and San Miguel de Liso.
The latter was rebuilt in the XNUMXth century respecting the Romanesque features of a previous one from which the apse is preserved separately. It adjusts, therefore, to the characteristics of this style in its jaquesa modality. Likewise, pieces from the original such as capitals, funerary steles and even an Aragonese chrismon were incorporated into the temple. You can also see attached to it the hermit's house, for whose construction, ashlars from the old church were also used, and the remains of a defensive tower.
The Jewish quarter of Biel
An old synagogue
As we have told you, this Aragonese town had a significant Jewish population during the Middle Ages. In fact, it was the most abundant within the Cinco Villas after that of Ejea of the Knights and both one and the other were among the eight most important in all of Aragon. It is estimated that, at the beginning of the XNUMXth century, more than half of the inhabitants of Biel professed this religion and dedicated themselves, above all, to agriculture and crafts.
Today you can still visit the places where this large Jewish quarter was located. Specifically, it occupied what is currently known as the green neighborhood. Their synagogue was located on the street so called, while they carried out social life in what is today the Caudevilla square.
Its importance was so great that it has been included in the project. Aragon Espacio Sefarad, promoted by the Provincial Council of Zaragoza with the aim of recovering these historic areas of its towns.
Hiking trails
The Arba River, which forms a privileged natural environment
To finish our visit to Biel, we recommend that you do some of the hiking and mountain biking routes that its wonderful natural environment offers. As we have told you, the area is dominated by Santo Domingo mountain range, with heights like the rocks of the same name or the Fallar and Tres Obispos peaks.
Es Special Protection Area for Birds and, on your tour, you can see species such as the golden eagle, the griffon vulture or the bearded vulture. As if that were not enough, it is washed by the Arba River, classified in many of its areas as Place of Community Interest. Precisely, one of the routes you can do is the interpretation of the Arba. But you also have others like the one below from Biel to Pozo Pígalo. As for bicycles, the route it travels stands out from Biel itself to San Miguel de Liso passing through Fuencalderas.
In conclusion, we have shown you the best you can see and do in Biel, the beautiful Aragonese town. We can only advise you that you also visit other towns in the province of Zaragoza such as, for example, one's own Ejea of the Knights o the impressive belchite. Come and enjoy this wonderful area.