Moncayo is a 15 km long and about 7 km wide
mountain chain
A mountain chain is a row of high mountain summits, a linear sequence of interconnected or related mountains,Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, p 87. . or a contiguous ridge of mountains within a larger mo ...
giving name to the
Tarazona y el Moncayo comarca
A ''comarca'' (, , , ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain, and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, mark ...
,
Aragon
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...
,
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. The Moncayo's highest summit, San Miguel (), is the highest point in the 500 km long
Sistema Ibérico.
The Moncayo is located between the provinces of
Zaragoza
Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...
in Aragon and
Soria
Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 ( INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial populatio ...
in
Castile and León
Castile and León is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwestern Spain. Castile and León is the largest autonomous community in Spain by area, covering 94,222 km2. It is, however, sparsely populated, with a pop ...
.
Gran Enciclopedia Aragonesa - Moncayo
/ref> The ridge's highest summits are usually covered in snow between October and May every year.
Description
Besides the San Miguel, the Moncayo massif includes two other peaks that are almost identical and are located close together, Cerro San Juan (2,283 m) and Peña Lobera (2,226 m).
This mountain was mentioned as ''Mons Caius'' by Marcus Valerius Martialis in Ancient Roman
In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...
times.
The nearest large town to Moncayo is Tarazona
Tarazona is a town and municipality in the Tarazona y el Moncayo comarca, province of Zaragoza (province), Zaragoza, in Aragon, Spain. It is the capital of the Tarazona y el Moncayo Aragonese comarca. It is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Dio ...
, with many old and historical buildings, located on the massif's northern side 10 km away from it. There are also smaller villages closer to the mountain.
The Sierra de Nava Alta and Sierra del Bollón are eastern prolongations of the Moncayo Massif.
Hiking
Moncayo is one of the most popular hiking places in Spain and there is public transport to reach the mountain.
There are few buses during the winter season, but almost hourly connections in the summertime.
From the village of San Martín de la Virgen de Moncayo starts a road for hikers, ending at the village of Agramonte.
The lower ranges of the mountain are covered by forest, including oak trees and spiky shrubs.
There is a wide path at the northern side of the mountain zigzagging upwards.
In the northeast corner of the mountain is a mountain hut
A mountain hut is a building located at high elevation, in mountainous terrain, generally accessible only by foot, intended to provide food and shelter to mountaineering, mountaineers, climbing, climbers and Hiking, hikers. Mountain huts are us ...
made of stone which can be used as shelter in emergency situations.
The shelter is located at the car park north of the Lobera peak before the slope.
At the northwest side of the mountain is a tiny river.
One can ascend the highest peak going up from Agramonte or from the eastern side of the mountain range, also via Lobera peak. Going up takes about three hours.
There are a few loose stone sections which can be avoided when following the paths. On the top of the highest peak one can see the Pyrenees
The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...
in clear weather.
Features
See also
*Tarazona
Tarazona is a town and municipality in the Tarazona y el Moncayo comarca, province of Zaragoza (province), Zaragoza, in Aragon, Spain. It is the capital of the Tarazona y el Moncayo Aragonese comarca. It is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Dio ...
* Sistema Ibérico
*List of mountains in Aragon
This is a list of mountains in Aragon, Spain. They include the Aneto, the highest peak in the Pyrenees, as well as the Moncayo, the highest peak in the Sistema Ibérico.
See also
* List of Pyrenean three-thousanders
*Pyrenees
* Pre-Py ...
References
External links
MendikatGeodesy - MoncayoParque Natural de la Dehesa del Moncayo
{{Authority control
Moncayo
Mountains of Castile and León
Mountain ranges of the Sistema Ibérico
Two-thousanders of Spain