Sierra de Vicort, also known as Sierra de Vicor (), is a long mountain range in the

Comunidad de Calatayud The Comunidad de Calatayud is one of the comarcas of Aragon, Spain. It is one of twelve comarcas (administrative subdivisions) within the province of Zaragoza in Aragón. The administrative headquarters are in the city of Calatayud. Local wine (Ca ...

and

Campo de Daroca Campo de Daroca is one of the comarcas of Aragon, in the Province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain. It is located in the mountainous Iberian System area. Municipalities The ''comarca'' includes the municipalities of Acered, Aldehuela de Liestos, A ...

comarcas of Aragon Here is a list of the administrative '' comarcas'' (administrative subdivisions) in the autonomous community of Aragon in Spain. They were officially delimited in 1999, with substantial changes over a previously proposed division. See also * ...

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 ridge is aligned in a NW-SE direction. It stretches southeast of the

Sierra de la Virgen Sierra de la Virgen is a mountain range in the Aranda and Comunidad de Calatayud comarcas, Aragon, Spain. It is located south of the Moncayo Massif between the valleys of the Jalón and the Aranda rivers, rising north of the N-234 road, roug ...

in the same direction roughly between

Paracuellos de la Ribera Paracuellos de la Ribera is a municipality located in the province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2010 censusInstituto Nacional de Estadística (Spain) the municipality has a population of 194 inhabitants. This town is located at th ...

and

Codos {{For, the Spanish municipality, Codos, Aragon The Codos or Commandos were guerrilla groups, active in southern Chad from 1983 to 1986, that resisted domination of their region by the President Hissène Habré's army. Many were veterans of the go ...

. It is separated from Sierra de la Virgen by the

Jalón River Xaló (; ), is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Marina Alta in the Valencian Community, Spain. Geography The town of Jalón is located in the Jalón Valley. The Jalón or Gorgos river crosses the town, which has a length of . Climate ...

valley. Sierra de Algairén runs north of Sierra de Vicort with a long

tectonic basin A structural basin is a large-scale structural geology, structural formation of rock stratum, strata formed by tectonics, tectonic warping (Fold (geology), folding) of previously flat-lying strata into a syncline fold. They are geological dep ...

between them, the Grio River Valley, a tributary of the Jalón having its source in Sierra de Vicort. Sierra de Vicort's highest point is Pico del Rayo (1,420 m). The range forks into two subranges towards its southeastern end, Sierra del Espigar, highest point 1,277 m and Sierra de la Modorra, highest point 1,279 m. The northeastern side of the range is abrupt, while its southwestern flanks, descending towards the Sediles and

Mara Mara or MARA may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Mara (''Doctor Who''), an evil being in two ''Doctor Who'' serials * Mara (She-Ra), fictional characters from the ''She-Ra and the Princesses of Power'' and ''The New Advent ...

plateaux are much smoother. Highway

Carretera Nacional N-II N-II was the former name for the National Route from Madrid to Barcelona and France. According to the new Spanish roads nomenclature, the sections which have been already enhanced and upgraded to ''autovía'' have been recently renamed to A-2, ...

crosses the northern end of the range, near El Frasno. There are ancient Celtiberian

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

remains in and around the range. Some authors claim that the name "Vicort" itself is of Celtiberian origin.

Flora and human activity

These mountains have many forested patches, consisting mainly of

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

and ''

Quercus rotundifolia ''Quercus rotundifolia'', the holm oak or ballota oak, is an evergreen oak native to the western Mediterranean region, with the majority of the population in the Iberian Peninsula and minor populations in Northwest Africa. The species was firs ...

'', ''

Quercus pyrenaica ''Quercus pyrenaica'', also known as Pyrenean oak, or Spanish oak is a tree native to southwestern Europe and northwestern North Africa. Despite its common name, it is rarely found in the Pyrenees Mountains and is more abundant in northern Portu ...

'' and ''

Quercus faginea ''Quercus faginea'', the Portuguese oak, is a species of oak native to the western Mediterranean region in the Iberian Peninsula. Similar trees in the Atlas Mountains of northwest Africa are usually included in this species, or sometimes treate ...

'' oaks with

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

and

broom A broom (also known as a broomstick) is a cleaning tool, consisting of usually stiff fibers (often made of materials such as plastic, hair, or corn husks) attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. It is thus a ...

and ''Calluna vulgaris'' shrub, as well as

thyme Thyme () is a culinary herb consisting of the dried aerial parts of some members of the genus ''Thymus (plant), Thymus'' of flowering plants in the mint family Lamiaceae. Thymes are native to Eurasia and north Africa. Thymes have culinary, medici ...

and ''

Festuca ''Festuca'' (fescue) is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the grass family Poaceae (subfamily Pooideae). They are evergreen or herbaceous perennial tufted grasses with a height range of and a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on ...

'' grassland in between. '' Centaurea pinnata'' is an

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

of plant present in this mountain range. The southern slopes of Sierra de Vicort are often subject to

wildfires A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

in periods of prolonged drought. Traditional

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

rearing activities still survive on dry grasslands in certain villages around the range. There are also a number of

hunter Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, ...

s visiting Sierra de Vicort, especially on weekends. The largely ruined

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

of Aldehuela de Santa Cruz and almost uninhabited Viver de Vicort are located in this range. On 1,411 m high Pico de Santa Brígida there is a

weather radar A weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar (WSR) and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, calculate its motion, and estimate its type (rain, snow, hail etc.). Modern w ...

antenna, part of the Inogés military base. There is also a

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

shrine located in the heights of the mountain range, the sanctuary known as ''Ermita de Nuestra Señora de Jerusalen''.Pueblos de España - Inoges
/ref>

References

External links

*
Sierra de Vicor - Tourism in AragonMancomunidad Sierra Vicor-Espigar

Vecinos y amigos de Viver de Vicort celebraron la procesión de San JorgeSierra de Vicort YoutubeHuérmeda - Viver de Vicort (PR-Z 94)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vicort Vicort Vicort