Salinas de Hoz between saltworks and Sierra

Salinas de Hoz makes its salt-making history visible through its preserved structures. At the Salinas de Hoz saltworks, some of the square basins or compartments used to decant the salt water have been preserved. The saltworks were used until around 1960. The historic centre of Salinas de Hoz is part of the Ruta Sierra de Salinas. Thus, the traces of salt production and a historically characterised local area stand side by side within a small space.

Culture and history

The narrow, steep streets of Salinas de Hoz lead to the parish church of Santa María Magdalena. The Church of Santa María Magdalena in Salinas de Hoz was partly built by reusing the structure of an earlier temple. In Salinas de Hoz, festivities in honour of Saint Mark are celebrated around 25 April. In traditional salt production in Naval and Salinas de Hoz, water was channelled through wooden conduits into shallow, divided basins. There, the summer sun completed the evaporation process for salt production. The townscape, church architecture, date of the festivities and salt-making craft thus provide different cultural points of reference that stand apart from one another in terms of time and subject matter.

Landscape

Salinas de Hoz is located near the Sierra de Salinas. Olive and almond trees were traditionally planted on terraces on the slopes of the Sierra de Salinas. In more recent times, the plain near Salinas de Hoz has been occupied by large areas of vineyards. The landscape references shift between the Sierra, the plain and the terraces. The terraces point to the traditional use of the slopes, while the plain has acquired a more recent landscape accent through its large vineyard areas.

Routes

The route to Cerro de la Torreta passes through the Barranco de Cuancas. It climbs between the slopes of the 929-metre-high Cerro de la Torreta and the 954-metre-high Platiello. From the summits along the route to Cerro de la Torreta, there is a panoramic view across the entire Somontano de Barbastro comarca, from the steppe zone in the south to the high peaks of the Aragonese Pyrenees. The different elevation and view details make the route and long-distance views comparable: the barranco describes the course of the route, while the two peaks serve as topographical reference points and the panorama marks the broader regional setting.

When choosing a holiday apartment in Salinas de Hoz, travel dates, room category and cancellation conditions can be considered as different selection points. This keeps the details of the desired period and personal flexibility separate from the town's cultural, landscape and route-related highlights.

Other places at this level are Seira, Huerta De Vero, Riglos, Calasanz, Martillué, Graus, Charo and Palo.

Architecture

Salinas de Hoz is a settlement at the foot of the Sierra, with predominantly rocky ground. The buildings were mainly constructed from rubble masonry. The construction style adds another visible local reference to the landscape, alongside the saltworks, the terraces on the Sierra slopes and the vineyards on the plain.

For the higher-level travel overview: Huesca.