Mirambel

The area around Mirambel was already inhabited in Iberian times, as the archaeological site of El Castellar shows. A necropolis once stood close to where the parish church and rectory now rise; in 1860 the then rector of the University of Valencia, Nicolás Ferrer Julve, uncovered several burials and stone axes there, finds that later excavations have added to. Through much of the Middle Ages, Mirambel sat on the frontier between Aragón and the Kingdom of Valencia.

Mirambel's old town is considered one of the most significant architectural ensembles in Aragón. In 1980 the entire historic quarter was declared a BIC (asset of cultural interest), recognised for keeping its medieval walls completely intact and preserving its medieval character without alteration. Queen Sofía of Greece came in person to present the award and was made an honorary citizen of the town.

Two Renaissance palaces face each other across the Plaza Aliaga. The Casa Castellot occupies a full side of the square; its façade announces the family's high social standing through a plain round-arch doorway at ground level, broad lintelled windows with moulded sills on the main floor, and the classic Aragonese arcade gallery beneath a double projecting wooden eave. The Casa de Aliaga follows the same model, round-arch entrance, moulded sills on the piano nobile, and an upper gallery of small arches under a wide overhanging eave, and closely resembles its neighbour.

The cemetery lies on the hill of Calvario, connected to the old hermitage of the Santo Sepulcro. It was opened in 1840 under mayor Juan Pastor. Before that, burials took place beside the parish church, though that earlier cemetery was already much reduced when the church expanded in 1689.

Mirambel lies at 993 metres in the Maestrazgo of Teruel, a village of around 130 people still contained within its walls. When the historic quarter was protected in 1980, the citation praised its complete walled enclosure and unaltered medieval atmosphere, and the next year its restoration won a Europa Nostra gold medal, presented in person by Queen Sofía.

The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were a high point for civil architecture across the Maestrazgo, when a nobility grown rich on wool built Renaissance palaces. Two face each other across the Plaza Aliaga: the Casa Castellot, which fills a whole side of the square, and the Casa de Aliaga, both with round-arched doorways and an arcaded gallery under a broad wooden eave. Pío Baroja wrote La venta de Mirambel in 1931, and in 1994 Ken Loach shot Tierra y Libertad here; a route now follows its locations.

Mirambel joined Los Pueblos Más Bonitos de España in 2018. The label is awarded by a private association, not the state: a village applies and is audited against around 40 criteria, from how its historic buildings are conserved to the upkeep of its streets, and members are reviewed and can lose it. Mirambel is one of 15 members in Aragón, out of 126 in Spain. See all heritage towns in Aragón.