Nickname: | Ejea |
Pushpin Map: | Spain Aragon#Spain#Europe |
Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Spain |
Coordinates: | 42.1292°N -1.1372°W |
Subdivision Name2: | Zaragoza |
Subdivision Type3: | Comarca |
Subdivision Name3: | Cinco Villas |
Parts Type: | Villages |
Parts Style: | para |
P1: | Ejea de los Caballeros |
P2: | Bardenas |
P3: | El Bayo |
P4: | El Sabinar |
P5: | Farasdués |
P6: | Pinsoro |
P7: | Rivas |
P8: | Santa Anastasia |
P9: | Valareña |
Government Type: | Mayor–council |
Governing Body: | Ayuntamiento de Ejea de los Caballeros |
Leader Party: | PSOE |
Leader Title: | Mayor |
Leader Name: | Teresa Ladrero |
Area Total Km2: | 609.92 |
Elevation M: | 318 |
Population Density Km2: | auto |
Population Demonyms: | ejeano (m), ejeana (f) |
Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
Postal Code: | 50600 |
Ejea de los Caballeros (pronounced as /es/) (Aragonese: Exeya d'os Caballers; commonly known simply as Ejea) is a town and municipality in the province of Zaragoza, part of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It is one of the five main towns in the Spanish; Castilian: [[Comarcas of Aragon|Comarca]] de las [[Cinco Villas, Aragon|Cinco Villas]], along with Sos del Rey Católico, Uncastillo, Sádaba, and Tauste.
The town became part of the medieval Kingdom of Aragon in 1105 during the Spanish Reconquista, as Muslim rule in the region was receding.
The town retains many medieval buildings, including:
The municipality of Ejea de los Caballeros comprises nine different centres of population:
Rivas and Farasdués are two historic villages that have been dependencies of Ejea for decades. The other six centres were built in the 1950s and 1960s in order to settle inhabitants and farmers to grow irrigation crops, following the construction of the Yesa Reservoir and Bardenas irrigation channel that brought water to these villages, among others (Sádaba, Tauste, and others).
The main local festival honours the Virgin of the Olive, the local saint. In June, there is also a medieval celebration for the patron saint, Saint John the Baptist.
Another local festival commemorates The Vote Day (January 14), an event during the Black Plague in which the townsfolk voted for the bringing of the Virgin of the Olive across the town to worship her. The plague is purported to have ended in the town that day.