This is Molina de Aragon !!!

Posted in Europe, Spain

Oh yes another wonderful old town of my dear Spain; this is deep country and our road warrior trips at its best. There are so many towns that will take you a life time to see them all, and each is unique. Let me tell you this introduction in my black and white serie,no pictures. Do see my other posts with pics and monuments. For now let me tell you a bit on this is Molina de Aragon !!!. Hope you enjoy it as I.

I go around these towns a lot on my roundtrips between France and Spain, and sometimes wish I could have spent more times in them. Molina de Aragon is in the province of Guadalajara in the Autonomous Community (region) of Castilla La Mancha. It has a population of 3,280 inhabitants (INE 2024).

The main monuments in my opinion are the castle of Molina de Aragon , with a second the former Monastery of San Francisco. (see posts).  Other things to see here with more time are the Church of Santa Clara, a wonderful example of roman style architecture.  It was built in the second half of the 12C, the Church of Santa Maria la Mayor de San Gil with a nice retable and baptismal fonts. The Church San Felipe 17C Gothic style; from outside see the roman style Chapel de la Soledad, Church Santa Maria del Condé, Church of San Pedro all modified in the 17C. You see the picturesque puente romano or viejo or old roman bridge over the Gallo river, a medieval work.

A bit of history I like tell us that during the reconquest it was taken by the Aragonese king Alfonso I the Battler (Batallador)  in 1128. Around 1139, the lands were taken again by Manrique de Lara, and the zone was constituted in independent lordship, in favor of this later, that granted to the town of Molina  in 1142. king Enrique II of Castila donated Molina to his Lieutenant Bertrand du Guesclin (famous knight of France), although the people, in the context of the war between Castilla and Aragon, rebelled and decided to put it under the sovereignty of Aragon in the year 1366, culminating the process three years later with the acceptance on the part of the Aragonese king. He finally returned to Castilian hands in 1375, to be given the lordship in the marriage of Leonor ,Infanta of Aragon in her marriage to the Infante Juan de Castilla. During the Spanish war of Independence(or peninsular war ), the behavior of resistance of the inhabitants to the Napoleonic troops, motivated that these, in retaliation, burned the villa. In recognition, the Spanish courts granted the city with the title of “very noble and very loyal city”.

As an anecdote, the Vuelta de España or tour of Spain bicycle race passed by here last August 17 2021 on the 4th stage won by Fabio Jakobsen of Netherlands. The course was from Burgo de Osma to Molina de Aragon.

The Spain tourist board on Molina de Aragon: https://www.spain.info/en/destination/molina-aragon/

The town of Molina de Aragon : https://www.molinadearagon.es/

The Molina de Aragon tourist office on its heritage: https://www.molinadearagonturismo.es/descubre-molina-de-aragon/monumentos/

There you go folks, another dandy in the wonderful region of Castilla La Mancha, of many memorable moments for my family. Enjoy Molina de Aragon , the town and the thrill of driving in mountain barren areas is good indeed. We will be back, eventually.  Again, hope you enjoy this post on this is Molina de Aragon !!! as I

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

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Published by pedmar10

I am a lover of travels to Europe , Americas , Africa and Asia as well ,who like to share my experiences of the last 53 years with the world, visiting so far 81 countries; living in 6, working in 5, and Citizen of 4, speaking fluently 4 languages. I can deal with sports especially football/soccer and love music, arts, wine collector/drinker, and go out to restaurants, and just visit the world. My background comes all the way from Candelaria and Pajara in Tenerife, Spain where my grandparents came from ;not knowing each other then, to Punta Brava, west of Havana, Cuba. There , my parents born in Cuba met and later on I was born there too. 100% guanche (annexed Tenerife to Spain on April 10 ,1496). I left Cuba as many have to Madrid, Spain where I lived for 4 years. Then, move to Perth Amboy ,New Jersey USA (living there 13 yrs) ; where I completed high school, became a US Citizen, learned to drive a car, and learned English. Afterward, went to the university in Florida, ERAU, and upon graduation decided to moved there to Ormond by the Sea, near Daytona Beach, finally moving North Miami, then Hialeah, then another moved to Silver Lakes division in Miramar, Broward county, Florida; in Florida I lived a total of 18 years. Finally , moved to France in 2003 ,Versailles call me for its royalty, and working in Paris was great. It was time to seek frontiers again and moved to Brech near Auray, Morbihan in Brittany , and later move to not too far Pluvigner. Total so far in France has been 20 years, and counting. Moving average a home every 5.5 years hopefully this will be my last. Cheers All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder, me. No part of this work may be modified, without the written permission of the holder, me.No part of this work may be exposed to public view in any form or by any means, without identifying the holder as the author, and with the before mentioned permission.

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