Peñarroya de Tastavíns – Fortress Ruins, Chapels and Rock Faces

For explorers, Peñarroya de Tastavíns begins at the summit of La Moleta hill: the surviving remains of Castillo de Peñarroya include part of the outer enclosing wall and the remains of a tower.

Culture

The tower and church of Santa María la Mayor have been protected as a monument in the category of Asset of Cultural Interest. The church has three naves of equal height, a dome over the crossing, side chapels and a high choir.

Santa María la Mayor was built in the mid-18th century in the so-called “Pilarist” style. Its architecture therefore combines a clearly recognisable layout with a historical stylistic designation that remains part of Peñarroya de Tastavíns’ cultural character to this day.

Sacred Sites

Two kilometres from Peñarroya de Tastavíns, the Santuario de la Virgen de la Fuente comprises an old chapel, a Baroque chapel and a guesthouse. The surviving Gothic chapel has a two-part roof with a wooden Mudéjar roof structure.

The portal of this Gothic chapel depicts scenes from the New Testament: the Flight into Egypt, the Visitation, the Adoration of the Magi, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection.

Experiences

Inhóspitak is the site of Territorio Dinópolis in Peñarroya de Tastavíns. Original bones of Tastavinsaurus sanzi and a 17-metre-tall bipedal reconstruction can be seen there.

The Parque Aragonés de la Vivienda en el Medio Rural is located in the upper part of Peñarroya de Tastavíns and is an open-air theme park. It reconstructs everyday life from prehistoric times to the Middle Ages.

The park includes the ethnological museum “Lo Masmut”, which reconstructs an early modern-period agricultural dwelling. In this way, palaeontological finds, open-air history and a specific example of rural domestic culture stand alongside one another as different reasons to visit.

The thematic selection is therefore clearly structured: architecture and local history, sacred art, palaeontology, rural everyday history, as well as landscape and wildlife represent different ways of exploring Peñarroya de Tastavíns. These focal points can be considered independently of one another and do not form a single, unified visiting programme; it is precisely the shift between built heritage, exhibitions, open-air history and nature that defines the breadth of the town’s attractions.

More local pages: Calaceite, Gúdar, Aliaga, Allepuz, Valderrobres, Valdecuenca, Libros, Lledó

Nature and Trails

The PR-TE 157 Els Ports is catalogued and inventoried by the Government of Aragon as a tourist resource. Its route passes through varied landscapes and then returns along an old pilgrimage route.

The Rocas del Masmut are an imposing monolith with sheer walls more than 100 metres high. This striking rock formation complements the trail and cultural experiences with a distinctive landscape feature.

A large vulture colony lives on the north-western side of the Rocas del Masmut. For your planning, the different focal points can be clearly compared: sacred buildings, fortress ruins, exhibitions, an open-air theme park and a trail each provide their own distinctive highlights.

To the wider travel overview: Teruel.