Beceite

Beceite sits at the foot of the Puertos de Beceite, the most significant mountain range in the northeastern corner of Teruel province. Four rivers — the Matarraña, Ulldemó, Algás and Pena — rise or run through its municipal territory. The town belongs to the Matarraña comarca and shares with its seventeen neighbouring villages a local language that is a western variant of Catalan.

The Templars were active here in the 12th century: they built the bridge over the Matarraña and founded the original church from which today's parish church of San Bartolomé developed. The old town has been through the Carlist Wars, when the Fuerte de Cabrera served as a significant military position, and through the Civil War, in which the main altars of San Bartolomé were destroyed by fire in 1938.

The GR-8 long-distance trail begins in Beceite, running south to Villel. Road access is via the A-2412.

The historic core of Beceite is in good condition. Five medieval gateways still define the perimeter of the old town, and a 15th-century Gothic exchange building — the lonja — survives with its pointed arched arcades.

The parish church of San Bartolomé, built across the 17th and 18th centuries, stands on the Plaza de la Constitución behind a Baroque doorway with Solomonic columns. Inside, three naves open beneath a large dome. A 12th-century chapel survives within the building, believed to descend from the original Templar church on the site. The interior has been recently restored. The 12th-century Templar bridge over the Matarraña is still standing.

Other structures worth noting in the old town include the Renaissance hermitage of Santa Ana, the Palau, several defensive towers, the old town gaol known as the presoneta, and the Fuerte de Cabrera. Small irrigation channels run through the streets, and the Matarraña forms a series of natural pools known locally as tolls.