Zaragoza, Teruel and Southern Aragón

North of Zaragoza, the Cinco Villas stretch for some 90km along the border with Navarra and comprise Tauste, Ejea de los Caballeros, Sádaba, Uncastillo and Sos del Rey Católico, all set in delightful, scarcely visited countryside. The title of Cinco Villas is owed to Felipe V, who awarded it for their services in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14). For those en route to the Pyrenees (the road past Sos continues to Roncal in Navarra) or to Pamplona, the Cinco Villas make a pleasant stopoff. Sos, the most interesting of the five, attracts the majority of visitors.

The Aragonese plains are dotted with reminders of the Moorish occupation, and nowhere more so than at TARAZONA, a wonderfully atmospheric old town loaded with Mudéjar architecture. If you’re en route to Soria or Burgos, it’s an ideal place to break the journey. Don’t miss out, either, on the tranquil Cistercian monastery of Veruela, 15km southeast.

Tarazona’s most absorbing sights lie in the old upper town, incorporating the Judería and Morería (Jewish and Moorish quarters, respectively), which stands on a hill overlooking the river, with medieval houses and mansions lining the callejas and pasadizos – the lanes and alleyways.

If you’re around for the fiesta on August 27, watch out for “El Cipotegato” (wcipotegato.com), a luckless character dressed in jester-like red, green and yellow stripy pyjamas who runs through the streets while everyone pelts him with tomatoes. He kicks off the town’s annual week-long festivities, during which there are street parties, live music and bullfights.

Like Tarazona, Calatayud is a town of Moorish foundation with some stunning Mudéjar towers. It’s worth climbing up to the old upper town where, amid a maze of alleys, stand the church of San Andrés (generally closed; enquire at turismo) and Colegiata de Santa María (closed for renovations) both of which have ornate Mudéjar towers. Santa María, the collegiate church, also has a beautifully decorative Plateresque doorway, while towards the river, at c/Valentín Gómez 3, San Juan el Real (daily 10am–1pm & 4–8pm; free) features paintings attributed to the young Goya. The ruins of a Moorish castle (open access; free) survive on high ground at the opposite end of town from the train station. The views from here are lovely, and you can walk around the evocative ruins and parts of the city wall.

The provincial capital of TERUEL offers an appealing glimpse into this rugged and sparsely populated wedge of Aragón. Because it’s often overlooked, the region came up with the playful slogan “Teruel existe” (“Teruel exists”). If you’re looking for remote, you’re in the right region, with its back-of-beyond villages and medieval sights that haven’t been prettified. The land, too, is high and harsh, with the coldest winters in the country.

Teruel the town is a likeable and impressively monumental place, with some of the finest Mudéjar work in Spain. Like Zaragoza, it was an important Moorish city and retained significant Muslim and Jewish communities after its Reconquest by Alfonso II in 1171. As you approach town, the Mudéjar towers, built by Moorish craftsmen over three centuries, are immediately apparent, and – like the fabulous Mudéjar ceiling in the cathedral – should not be missed.

The centro histórico, on a hill above the Río Turia, has Plaza del Torico at its heart, and is enclosed by a few remains of fortified walls, with a viaduct linking it to the modern quarter to the south. Leading off to the north is a sixteenth-century aqueduct, Los Arcos, a slender and elegant piece of monumental engineering.

ALBARRACÍN, 37km west of Teruel, is one of the more accessible targets in rural southern Aragón – and also one of the most picturesque towns in the province, poised above the Río Guadalaviar and retaining, virtually intact, its medieval streets and tall, balconied houses. There’s a historical curiosity here, too, in that from 1165 to 1333, the town formed the centre of a small independent state, the kingdom of the Azagras.

Despite its growing appeal as a tourist destination, Albarracín’s dark, enclosed lanes and ancient buildings adorned with splendid coats of arms still make for an intriguing wander – reminders of past eras. Approaching from Teruel, you may imagine that you’re about to come upon a large town, for the medieval walls swoop back over the hillside – protecting, with the loop of the river, a far greater area than the extent of the town, past or present.

The mountains of the Sierra de Gúdar and nearby El Maestrazgo, to the east and northeast of Teruel, are an area of great variety and striking, often wild, beauty, with severe peaks, deep gorges and lush meadows. One hundred years ago, this now impoverished region had four times the number of inhabitants it does today. Defeated in their attempts to make a living from agriculture, many left to seek their fortunes in the cities, leaving behind the crumbling remains of once grand, honey-hued farmhouses that dot the landscape and stone-walled terraces etched into the steep-sided hills.

A landscape of sharp, rocky crags, Sierra de Gúdar is easy to access by following the N234 southeast from Teruel and then heading northeast into the mountains along the A232. This will bring you to the lovely medieval villages of Mora de Rubielos, 42km from Teruel, and its even lovelier twin, Rubielos de Mora. Head north from here for Linares de Mora and Mosqueruela, also charming and remote mountain villages.

Unfolding northeast of Teruel, the Maestrazgo is dry, windswept, rugged terrain dominated (and named after) the Maestrazgo mountain range. In keeping with the rest of the region, the Maestrazgo is sparsely populated and often seems stuck in time, particularly if you wander the quiet, cobbled streets of its ancient mountain villages. Approaching the region from Teruel, you pass nearby Cedrillas with its conspicuous, ridge-top castle ruin. From here the road starts climbing into the hills, scaling high mountain passes and affording tantalizing views of the valleys. The first village of any size is Cantavieja, which makes a useful base for exploring – or walking in – the region, while to the southeast lies the fairly well-preserved La Iglesuela del Cid.