Alquézar

The name Alquézar almost certainly has Arabic roots, pointing to the town's origins on the edge of Muslim-controlled territory. One interpretation links the word to the Arabic for controlling or cutting river water for irrigation — works substantial enough, in stone, earth, and timber, to resemble a fortress. Another traces it to *alcázar*, meaning palace or stronghold. Both readings fit: during the period of Muslim rule, Jalaf ibn Rashid ordered a castle built here that became the principal defensive point protecting Barbastro and the Barbitania region against the Christian kingdoms of Sobrarbe.

Aragon's King Sancho Ramírez took the town and, between 1067 and 1075, granted it charters and privileges, including formal recognition after the siege of the Saracens was lifted. The town passed between royal and noble hands over the following centuries — briefly given to the bishop of Tortosa in 1218, granted to Artal de Foces in 1233, and sold to Pedro Jordán de Urriés in 1357 — before returning repeatedly to the Crown. By 1610, Alquézar held authority over several surrounding settlements. The old town was declared a protected historic-artistic ensemble in 1982, and the collegiate church had received national monument status as early as 1966.