La Fresneda

The first people here came in the Bronze Age. On the sacred hill of Santa Bárbara, researchers have found rock carvings that suggest ritual and astronomical meaning — including a trident and an 85-centimetre male figure with outstretched arms, known locally as "el primer fresnedino" and adopted as the town's symbol. Iberian remains have also been found at Els Gallipons, near the point where the Vall del Ferro meets the Matarraña river. Historian Amador Rebullida spent over thirty years excavating the area; some of what he found — ceramics, loom weights — is now in the municipal museum.

Alfonso II took the town in 1170 and gave it to the Order of Calatrava. King Pedro III granted it the title of villa by royal document in Zaragoza in 1283. Over the following centuries La Fresneda was drawn into successive conflicts: the Reapers' War of 1643, the War of Spanish Succession in 1706, and the First Carlist War, during which the Carlist general Cabrera seized the town. Before withdrawing in late 1839, he ordered the castle and fortified buildings destroyed to deny them to the opposing side.

By the mid-19th century, Pascual Madoz's geographical dictionary recorded 1,635 inhabitants. The early 20th century brought organised labour: a Republican Centre was founded in 1911, a Workers' Centre in 1916. During the Civil War, La Fresneda fell on the Republican side; a revolutionary committee collectivised land and replaced state currency with a local one. After Franco's victory, many residents left — some fleeing repression, others driven by economic need. Maquis guerrilla activity continued in the area until 1947.

La Fresneda's main monuments span several centuries. The parish church of Santa María la Mayor (also called Nuestra Señora de las Nieves) and the Capilla del Pilar both date from the 16th and 17th centuries. The Renaissance-era Casa Consistorial and the Palacio de la Encomienda reflect the town's former administrative importance.

Also worth noting are the old dungeons and a so-called luxury jail, the hilltop Ermita de Santa Bárbara, and the Santuario de la Virgen de Gracia, about 5 kilometres outside the town centre.