Belchite

The earliest signs of human presence in the Belchite area go back to the Bronze Age, found in the Cueva de los Encantados, though significant settlement only took hold in the Iron Age. Later sources link the site to Iberian and Celtiberian communities — possibly the settlement of Belgeda, whose inhabitants, according to the chronicler Apian, killed their own leaders for siding with Rome. A Roman presence is confirmed at the Cerro del Pueyo site, dating from the late Roman period.

Under Arab rule the town, known as Balsal or Belsid, belonged to the Taifa of Zaragoza until 1118. Its position controlling routes toward Teruel and the coast, combined with a restored Roman dam, made it an important agricultural district. Alfonso I of Aragón took the town in 1117–1118, and in 1119 granted it an unusual frontier charter allowing even criminals to resettle there in exchange for defending a dangerous borderland. In 1122 Alfonso founded the Cofradía de Belchite, the first military order in Aragón, later absorbed into the Knights Templar in 1143. Through the Middle Ages Belchite grew into a prosperous agricultural and administrative centre with a mixed Christian, Muslim, and Jewish population. In 1498 Fernando I established the County of Belchite.

Belchite's main heritage sites are the Sanctuary of Nuestra Señora del Pueyo, the Ethnological Museum, and above all the Pueblo Viejo — the ruined old town, which preserves its historic street layout along with the remains of civil and religious buildings. The whole complex is protected as a cultural asset with the status of historic site. Its boundary was expanded in 2022, it was included in the World Monuments Watch list in 2025, and it was declared a Tourist Site of Interest in Aragón in 2026.