Puntos de Interés
Municipality
La Puebla de Valverde
La Puebla de Valverde is a municipality and village in the province of Teruel located in the comarca of Gúdar-Javalambre at an altitude of 1,118 metres above sea level. It has a population of around 500. The municipality is home to the highest point in the province, with a peak of 2,020 m, and the River Mijares, which flows through the surrounding area.
The recent history of the municipality is deeply marked by the ravages suffered during the civil war, which had a disastrous impact on the people and the heritage and architecture. Some of the maquis, who continued to fight against Franco's regime after the end of the war, based themselves in the mountains surrounding the town.
As for the heritage of La Puebla de Valverde, two religious buildings stand out above all. One is the Parish Church of Santa Emerenciana, in Gothic-Renaissance style, and another is the Shrine of Loreto, a Renaissance construction. Both buildings were built during the 16th century in masonry and stonework. In the centre of the village we can also find a series of typical houses of special historical value, built between the 17th and 18th centuries reflecting the traditional architecture of the area. The houses have three floors in the baroque style. Other points of interest in the municipality are its old washhouse and two gates belonging to the old walls that was built between the 17th and 18th centuries, as well as a tower also belonging to the extinct wall.
Nearby is the archaeological site of Los Castillejos, which dates from the Iberian and Roman periods, and where the remains of dwellings and a wall have been found, as well as other elements such as a Roman funerary stele, flint workshops and Bronze Age remains. Also in the vicinity of the town is the old bunker built by the CNT trade union during the civil war, where some inscriptions dating from the civil war are still preserved.
As for its gastronomy, the black truffle is the star of the local cuisine. The village celebrates festivals to mark the Romería de Santa Bárbara pilgrimage, held on the first Sunday in May, and La Virgen de Valverde, whose feast day is the second Sunday in September. The villagers of La Puebla de Valverde also celebrate the feast day of San Martín on 11 November, a day on which the villagers gather at the Masía del Manzano farmhouse to eat the traditional dish of gachas, a type of porridge.