Sobrarbe

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Sobrarbe
Ibon de Plan (Huesca, Aragon).jpg
Bassa de la Mora or Ibon de Plan near Cotiella.
Tree of Sobrarbe Arms.svg
Sobrarbe.png
Country Flag of Spain.svg  Spain
Autonomous community Aragon
Province Huesca
Capital Aínsa, Boltaña
Municipalities
List
  • See text
Area
  Total2,202.70 km2 (850.47 sq mi)
Population
  Total7,293
  Density3.3/km2 (8.6/sq mi)
Time zone UTC+1 (CET)
  Summer (DST) UTC+2 (CEST)
View of Serra Ferrera Serra Ferrera.jpg
View of Serra Ferrera

Sobrarbe is one of the comarcas of Aragon, Spain. It is located in the northern part of the province of Huesca, part of the autonomous community of Aragon in Spain. Many of its people speak the Aragonese language locally known as fabla.

Contents

Sobrarbe is a mountainous region with some of the highest altitudes in the Pyrenees mountain range, [1] [2] extending from the heights of the Axial Pyrenees in the north and in the border with France, to the external Pyrenean mountain ranges in the south which separate it from the Aragonese mountains.

The administrative capital is Boltaña and the economic development capital is Aínsa.

History

Sobrarbe was one of the Christian principalities of the Marca Hispanica, with obscure origins. Legend says there was a Kingdom of Sobrarbe, where a cross appeared upon a tree Latin : Supra Arbore.

The bosque de La Pardina del Senor, between Fanlo and Sarvise. One of the most spectacular forests in autumn in Europe Bosque Fanlo-Sarvise (Huesca, Pirineo Aragones).JPG
The bosque de La Pardina del Señor, between Fanlo and Sarvisé. One of the most spectacular forests in autumn in Europe

It became part of the County of Aragon, but in the early 9th century was held for five years by Amrus ibn Yusuf, the governor of Zaragoza, being retaken after his death. Sobrarbe was joined to the County of Ribagorza in the early 10th century through the marriage of Bernard I of Ribagorza to Toda Galíndez of Aragon, daughter of Galindo Aznárez II. However, in the late 10th and early 11th century, a series of incursions from the south left it disorganized and depopulated, and for a time it again fell under Muslim control. This was reversed by Sancho the Great of Pamplona, who reconquered the region in 1015, similarly extending his power into Ribagorza over the subsequent years. Whatever hereditary claim might have existed was subsequently brought to Sancho through his wife Muniadona of Castile, heiress to the Ribagorza counts.

Sancho divided the territories he had united, and his third son, Gonzalo, was given the counties of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza. After the death of Gonzalo in 1038, his illegitimate half-brother Ramiro I of Aragon brought Sobrarbe and Ribagorza into his hands, creating the nucleus of the Kingdom of Aragon.

Sobrarbe Geopark

The entire territory of Sobrarbe is "Sobrarbe Geopark" which is a member of the European Geoparks Network (2004-) and Global Geoparks Network (2006-) on account of its outstanding geological heritage, educational programs and projects, and promotion of geotourism. [3]

Municipalities

Abizanda, Aínsa-Sobrarbe, Bárcabo, Bielsa, Boltaña, Broto, Fanlo, Fiscal, La Fueva, Gistaín, Labuerda, Laspuña, Palo, Plan, Puértolas, El Pueyo de Araguás, San Juan de Plan, Tella-Sin, Torla

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aragonese language</span> Romance language of northern Aragon, Spain

Aragonese is a Romance language spoken in several dialects by about 12,000 people as of 2011, in the Pyrenees valleys of Aragon, Spain, primarily in the comarcas of Somontano de Barbastro, Jacetania, Alto Gállego, Sobrarbe, and Ribagorza/Ribagorça. It is the only modern language which survived from medieval Navarro-Aragonese in a form distinct from Spanish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aragon</span> Autonomous community of Spain

Aragon is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza. The current Statute of Autonomy declares Aragon a historic nationality of Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ramiro I of Aragon</span> King of Aragon from 1035 to 1063

Ramiro I was the first King of Aragon from 1035 until his death, although he is sometimes described as a petty king. He would expand the nascent Kingdom of Aragon through his acquisition of territories, such as Sobrarbe and Ribagorza, and the city of Sangüesa. Sancho Ramírez, his son and successor, was King of Aragon, but also became King of Pamplona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">County of Ribagorza</span> Medieval county

The County of Ribagorza or Ribagorça was a medieval county on the southern side of the Pyrenees, including the northeast of modern Aragón and part of the northwest of modern Catalonia, both in Spain. It was originally the independent creation of a local dynasty, later absorbed into the Kingdom of Navarre and then into the Crown of Aragon. It had a strong historical connection with the neighboring counties of Sobrarbe and Pallars. Its territory consisted of the valleys of the rivers Ésera, Isábena, and Noguera Ribagorzana. The seat of its counts was at Benabarre. Other notable towns include Benasque, Graus and Pont de Suert. Today the western portion of the county roughly corresponds to the Aragonese comarca of Ribagorza, with its administrative centre in Graus; the eastern portion roughly corresponds to the Catalan comarca of Alta Ribagorça.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Province of Huesca</span> Province of Spain

Huesca, officially Huesca/Uesca, is a province of northeastern Spain, in northern Aragon. The capital is Huesca.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ribagorça</span> Natural region in Spain

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sancho III of Pamplona</span> King of Pamplona and ruler of Aragon from 1004 to 1035

Sancho Garcés III, also known as Sancho the Great, was the King of Pamplona from 1004 until his death in 1035. He also ruled the County of Aragon and by marriage the counties of Castile, Álava and Monzón. He later added the counties of Sobrarbe (1015), Ribagorza (1018) and Cea (1030), and would intervene in the Kingdom of León, taking its eponymous capital city in 1034.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingdom of Aragon</span> Medieval and early modern kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula

The Kingdom of Aragon was a medieval and early modern kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon, in Spain. It should not be confused with the larger Crown of Aragon, which also included other territories—the Principality of Catalonia, the Kingdom of Valencia, the Kingdom of Majorca, and other possessions that are now part of France, Italy, and Greece—that were also under the rule of the King of Aragon, but were administered separately from the Kingdom of Aragon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gonzalo of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza</span>

Gonzalo Sánchez was the king of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza, two small Pyrenean counties, from 1035 until his death. He was the son of King Sancho III of Navarre and his wife, Muniadona of Castile. Before his death in 1035, Sancho divided his kingdom between his sons, leaving Sobrarbe and Ribagorza to Gonzalo. He governed them as vassal of his elder brother, García Sánchez III, who had inherited Navarre. Gonzalo is thought to have been ineffectual and unpopular, with vassals defecting to his half-brother, Ramiro I of Aragon, during his own lifetime. Within a decade of his death, his reign was being ignored and he was left out of a list of rulers of Ribagorza.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jiménez dynasty</span> Medieval royal dynasty in the Iberian Peninsula

The Jiménez dynasty, alternatively called the Jimena, the Sancha, the Banu Sancho, the Abarca or the Banu Abarca, was a medieval ruling family which, beginning in the 9th century, eventually grew to control the royal houses of several kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula during the 11th and 12th centuries, namely the Kingdoms of Navarre, Aragon, Castile, León and Galicia as well as of other territories in the South of France. The family played a major role in the Reconquista, expanding the territory under the direct control of the Christian states as well as subjecting neighboring Muslim taifas to vassalage. Each of the Jiménez royal lines ultimately went extinct in the male line in the 12th or 13th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">County of Aragon</span> Frankish marcher county (802–1035)

The County of Aragon or County of Jaca was a small Frankish marcher county in the central Pyrenean valley of the Aragon river, comprising Ansó, Echo, and Canfranc and centered on the small town of Jaca, an area now part of Spain. It was created by the Carolingians late in the 8th or early in the 9th century, but soon fell into the orbit of the Kingdom of Navarre, into which it was absorbed in 922. It would later form the core of the 11th century Kingdom of Aragon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aínsa</span> Locality in Aragon, Spain

Aínsa is the main town in the Aínsa-Sobrarbe municipal territory, Aragon, Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aínsa-Sobrarbe</span> Municipality in Aragon, Spain

Aínsa-Sobrarbe is a municipality located in the province of Huesca, Aragon, Spain. As of 2010 (INE), the municipality has a population of 2,180 inhabitants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boltaña</span> Municipality in Aragon, Spain

Boltaña is a municipality located in the province of Huesca, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 870 inhabitants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Somontano de Barbastro</span> Comarca in Aragon, Spain

Somontano de Barbastro is a comarca in Province of Huesca, Aragon, Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingdom of Sobrarbe</span>

The Kingdom of Sobrarbe was the legendary predecessor to the Kingdom of Aragon and the modern region of Sobrarbe. According to the late medieval legend, the kingdom, with its capital at Aínsa, was a product of the Reconquista. The legend is based in part on the historical origins of the Kingdom of Pamplona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Piedra Pisada</span>

On 25 December 1084, at the Battle of Piedra Pisada, the Taifa of Zaragoza fought and probably defeated the Kingdom of Aragon on the road south from Naval to El Grado. The battle was a minor engagement of the ongoing Reconquista of Aragon, the process by which the riverine valleys of the southern slopes of the Pyrenees were gradually conquered and returned, after centuries of Muslim rule, to the control of Christian princes. The ruler of Aragon, who personally led his men in battle at Piedra Pisada, Sancho Ramírez, also ruled Kingdom of Navarre and was a major figure in the contemporary Reconquista.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ribagorza (comarca)</span> Comarca in Aragon, Spain

Ribagorza or Ribagorça is a comarca in Aragon, Spain, situated in the north-east of the province of Huesca. It borders the French département of the Haute-Garonne to the north and Catalonia to the east. Within Aragon its neighboring comarcas are Sobrarbe, Somontano de Barbastro, and La Litera. It roughly corresponds to the Aragonese part of the medieval County of Ribagorza. The administrative capital of Ribagorza is Graus, although the historical capital of the county was at Benabarre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peña Montañesa</span>

The Peña Montañesa is a conspicuous rocky mountainous outcrop of the Pre-Pyrenees. It is located east of the valley of the Cinca, in the Sobrarbe comarca, Aragon, Spain. The ridge's highest summit is 2295 m high. The village of Laspuña is located at the feet of the mountain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Can de Chira</span> Spanish breed of dog

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References

  1. (in Spanish) ANTOR CASTELLARNAU, Ramón et alter. Sobrarbe (num. 21 en a colección Red Natural de Aragón); Ed. Gobierno de Aragón + Sodemasa + PRAMES. Zaragoza, 2008. ISBN 978-84-8321-821-1
  2. (in Spanish) PALLARUELO CAMPO, Severino et al. Comarca de Sobrarbe (Num. 23 en a «Colección Territorio»). Gobierno de Aragón; Zaragoza, 2007. ISBN 84-7753-630-9
  3. Sobrarbe Geopark (Geoparque de Sobrarbe)

42°27′00″N00°09′00″W / 42.45000°N 0.15000°W / 42.45000; -0.15000