The Iberians in the Matarraña
The small settlements and the numerous burial mounds scattered across the territory demonstrate that the Matarraña is a land of Iberians.
The Iberians in the Matarraña
The small settlements and the numerous burial mounds scattered across the territory demonstrate that the Matarraña is a land of Iberians. Iberian culture has a strong presence in the Matarraña, with remains found in four of its municipalities: Calaceite, Cretas, Mazaleón and Valdeltormo.
The Matarraña region preserves numerous archaeological sites from the Iberian period, some of which are open to visitors as they form part of the Route of the Iberians of Aragon. The region is a member of the Consorcio Patrimonio Ibérico de Aragón, dedicated to recovering and promoting Iberian archaeological sites. Thorough clean-up campaigns are carried out at the archaeological sites every year.
Burial mounds
These are drum-shaped funerary monuments containing a cist or burial chamber made from three large stone slabs, in which an urn was placed with the ashes of the deceased along with grave goods. They can be visited on the PR-TE-200 trail between Arens de Lledó and Cretas (a route of 5.6 km with about fifteen mounds), at Torre del Compte, and at Mazaleón with the San Cristóbal necropolis.
Burial mounds route
Walk among the burial mounds between Arens de Lledó and Cretas (PR-TE-200, ~5.6 km).
Visitor centres
Interpretive spaces about Iberian culture in the Matarraña, part of the Route of the Iberians of Bajo Aragón.
Museo Juan Cabré
The Museo Juan Cabré is a museum centre run by the Government of Aragon. Its collections are organised around three main themes: the figure of Juan Cabré, the Contemporary Art section and the Ethnology section. It was founded as a monographic museum dedicated to the life and work of the archaeologist Juan Cabré Aguiló, born in Calaceite (Calaceite 1882 – Madrid 1947), and has since grown into a cultural reference centre for the contemporary visual arts. Its distinctiveness lies in the combination of traditional and modern elements, with collections made up of very diverse museum holdings that together form a body of great importance as cultural heritage. For this reason, the Museo Juan Cabré forms part of the Aragon Museum System and the Aragon Museum Network. The museum's home is an 18th-century manor house in the old quarter of Calaceite that once belonged to a wealthy local family. The building was constructed as a private residence in 1790 and is a magnificent example of civil architecture of its era. The Juan Cabré collection comprises several types of museum holdings. Firstly, a series of tracings of rock paintings and ceramic decoration designs produced by Cabré himself and by his daughter. Of great importance is the collection of archaeological objects from various sites and periods, the result of the research of this pioneering archaeologist, with a particular emphasis on Iberian culture and, above all, a collection of votive offerings from the sanctuary of Collado de los Jardines in Santa Elena, Jaén. The museum rooms also contain the photographic equipment Cabré used in his fieldwork, as well as a selection of period paintings that bear witness to Cabré's early career as a painter and his relationship with Calaceite and the wider Bajo Aragón region. The Contemporary Art collection consists of a body of works — primarily paintings and graphic works, but also sculpture and ceramics — that provide an interesting overview of contemporary visual arts. These are artworks donated by the artists who, since 1991, have exhibited their work in the temporary exhibition galleries. Finally, the Ethnology collection presents an interesting selection of traditional implements from Calaceite. Highlights include ceramic objects, weights and measures, tools and farming implements, transport elements, harnesses and various household and agricultural items from the region. The museum can be visited year-round, individually or through guided tours.
Centro de La Lengua y Escritura Ibéricas
The Cretas Visitor Centre is located on the ground floor of the town's Cultural Centre, right in the town centre, just a few metres from the Plaza de España. The Cretas Centre opens with a reception area providing general information about the Iberians in Bajo Aragón Route, through an interactive display and a series of information panels. The Centre is divided into 5 small themed rooms. The tour begins in Room A, which explains the origin and evolution of writing from its earliest manifestations in Egypt and Mesopotamia through to Phoenician and Greek scripts. Room B, the Sound Gallery, projects Iberian texts in a small darkened room where visitors can hear them read aloud. Room C explains the Palaeohispanic and Iberian languages and writing systems and includes a monitor showing an audiovisual on this subject. Room D is dedicated to Iberian epigraphy in Bajo Aragón and its media (stelae, coins, ceramics), featuring reproductions of three Iberian funerary stelae of different origins. Finally, Room D also houses a projection space with a tourist promotion audiovisual, an area dedicated to the Iberian settlement of Els Castellans — with a spectacular scale model of its theoretical reconstruction — and a children's table where visitors can write their names using Iberian letters with printed stamps. The space can be visited from Easter until December.
Centro de la Cultura Ibérica
The Mazaleón Visitors' Centre is housed in the former hermit's dwelling attached to the baroque hermitage of San Cristóbal, facing the current urban core. The centre has a ground floor where old structures such as mangers and a large fireplace have been preserved, plus two upper floors, of which only the first is currently open to the public. The hermitage of San Cristóbal, together with the archaeological site of the same name, stands on top of a hill on the right bank of the Matarraña river, from which a vast stretch of territory can be surveyed. The Mazaleón Visitors' Centre focuses specifically on the origins of the Iberian world, owing to the fact that three settlements were preserved within its municipal boundary — excavated in the early 20th century — that cover the initial phases of Iberian culture. The reception area is on the ground floor and provides general information about the Iberians in Bajo Aragón route through an interactive display with two screens (one of them digital), various informational panels, display cases and a shop selling route-promotion products. The room includes an interactive map showing the evolution of Iberian settlement in the middle basin of the Matarraña. On the first floor, the main hall explains the origins of the Iberian world and provides information about the local sites of San Cristóbal, Escodines Altes and Baixes, and El Piuró del Barranc Fondo. On display are scale models of two of these sites, cases with reproductions of various ceramics from the early Iberian period found at the Mazaleón sites, and two audiovisual presentations: one dedicated to the origins of Iberian culture and another — projected inside a small alcove — promoting the town for tourism. The space can be visited from Easter until December.
Centro de la Aristrocracia Ibérica y la Arquitectura
The Visitor Centre is located in the semi-basement floor of the Valdeltormo Town Hall. Inside, an ancient cistern is preserved, along with a small underground water-collection gallery and the remains of an olive-oil press that survived the restoration of the historic building. The entrance to the Valdeltormo Visitor Centre features a small reception area housing an interactive display about the "Iberians Route in Bajo Aragón". The tour begins with the projection of an animated audiovisual, inspired by the decorations on Iberian ceramics from Bajo Aragón, onto the floor of the cistern. The specific theme of the Valdeltormo Centre focuses on the relationship between the Iberian aristocratic classes and the construction of certain singular buildings, explained through examples documented at the nearby archaeological sites of Torre Cremada and Tossal Montañés, both excavated in recent years. Among the museographic resources on display, highlights include a full-scale reconstruction of the ground floor of the tower-house of Tossal Montañés, complete with domestic furnishings; two stone scale models of singular buildings; a replica of an ancient stele from the early Iberian period; an audiovisual on aristocracy and architecture in the Iberian era; and numerous illustrated explanatory panels. The space can be visited from Easter through to December.
Matarraña · Tourism
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