Orihuela del Tremedal

The land around Orihuela del Tremedal has been inhabited since deep prehistory. Levantine rock art in the area dates to the Meso-Neolithic or Bronze Age, and excavations at the site of Las Casas confirm early settlement. Celtiberian evidence was found at the El Toril archaeological site, dug in 1986, while the Romans left traces at a military settlement called Las Tejeras. A Visigothic buckle discovered near the sanctuary points to later occupation as well.

The town's own foundation is uncertain, though it is thought to go back to Roman times, probably growing around an iron foundry at a place known as Escorial de Fuenlabrada. The settlement was called Oreyuela. By 1164 it was formally part of Aragón, within the territory of Albarracín, and it fell under the Señorío de Albarracín, ruled by the Azagra family until Pedro III of Aragón took it in 1284. It belonged to the sesma of Bronchales, alongside Bronchales, Ródenas, Pozondón, and Monterde. In 1696, the town hall hosted the drafting of the Ordinances of the Community of Villages of Albarracín.

The 18th century brought a period of prosperity. The new sanctuary of the Virgen del Tremedal opened in 1748, and the parish church was built with money from the council's ironworks. King Felipe V had ordered the town walls demolished, but the town was growing. That era ended violently during the Peninsular War, when Napoleon's army destroyed much of the town. Recovery was slow enough that in 1815 Fernando VII authorised a three-day annual fair to help revive the local economy. By the mid-19th century the population had reached 752.

The parish church of San Millán de la Cogolla stands at the top of the hill on which the town sits, making it visible from everywhere around. Work began in 1770 to plans by José Martín de la Aldehuela. It is a large building with three naves and a dome over the crossing. The tower rises in three sections and ends in a capital. The overall style is baroque, while the façade follows a neoclassical approach. It was declared a historic-artistic monument in 1972. Inside, the baroque organ and a baroque pulpit from 1782 stand out, along with the high altar, which dates from the transition between Renaissance and baroque and is dedicated to San Millán de la Cogolla. Two other altars are worth noting: a Mannerist altar of San Pedro from 1618, and a baroque altar of San José from 1728.

The Renaissance town hall, probably from the 16th or 17th century, has a well-cut stone façade carrying the municipal coat of arms, a wrought-iron balcony, and arcades at street level.

The Sanctuary of the Virgen del Tremedal sits on the northern slope of the Alto del Tremedal at around 1,770 metres, just below the summit at 1,893 metres. A viewpoint beside it, looking out over the Sierra de Albarracín and the Montes Universales, is known as El Balcón de España. The sanctuary was the most important pilgrimage centre in the entire Sierra de Albarracín. Documentary references go back to 1748, when a rebuilt sanctuary opened. French troops destroyed that building in 1807 during the Peninsular War. It was rebuilt from 1880 under architect Fernando Yarza of the Zaragoza archdiocese and reopened in 1884, with consolidation work following in 1948. More recently, the former hostelry attached to the sanctuary was converted into an interpretation centre dedicated to the Virgin. The church itself has three naves in three bays, cruciform columns carrying rounded arches, barrel-vaulted naves, and a pendentive dome over the crossing. The entrance is through the gospel-side façade, under a simple Renaissance doorway with a tiled image of the apparition of the Virgin. The carved image of the Virgin is a polychrome pine figure, dated by some scholars to the Romanesque period and by others to early Gothic, with documentary references going back to a will of 1486.