Tarazona at the Foot of the Moncayo: A Cathedral Called the "Sistine Chapel of the Spanish Renaissance" and a 1792 Bullring with Flats Built Around It

Tarazona lies at the foot of the Moncayo mountain, at the point where Aragon, Navarre, Castile and La Rioja meet. A location like that leaves you no choice: the town is a border by definition. Its old quarter bears the traces of Christians, Jews and Muslims, and within a few streets you go from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance - no museum ticket required.

On 11 October the town re-enacted its most famous wedding - the one from 1170, between Alfonso VIII of Castile and Eleanor Plantagenet, daughter of the English king Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. The groom was 14, the bride around 10. This wasn't love, but an alliance between the Castilian crown and one of Europe's most powerful dynasties. The chronicles tell of feasts, processions and tournaments. The re-enactment, titled "Love in a Border Land", is part of the theatrical tour "Tarazona, Protagonist of the Middle Ages", now in its third edition - with guides, actors, dancers and musicians who set off from Plaza de España and wind through the El Cinto quarter to the church of Santa María Magdalena and the Episcopal Palace. This year the story also reaches into the 13th century: Alfonso and Eleanor's daughter, also named Eleanor, and James I of Aragon visited the town after their wedding in Ágreda.

The Balkans know marriages like these well from their own medieval chronicles - children married off by crowns, not by feelings. The difference is that Tarazona has turned it into a tourist attraction, with costumes and music. How many of Macedonia's fortresses, churches and old bazaars could tell their story the same way, instead of waiting for a visitor who happens to wander in by accident?

A palace that was a fortress, then a castle, then a residence

The Episcopal Palace rises on a plateau above the Queiles river. It began as a Muslim zuda, a fortress, became a Christian castle, and later took on Renaissance form. It was declared a Site of Cultural Interest in 2020 and keeps opening new spaces: the Renaissance grand staircase and the dome, recently restored; a climb up to the dome to see the uncovered and restored 16th-century paintings; the medieval stables; the residential and administrative wings; and even the former dungeons.

The "Sistine Chapel of the Spanish Renaissance"

The Cathedral of Santa María de la Huerta has roots in the 13th century and blends French Gothic, Mudéjar construction and the Renaissance. Its main draw is the dome over the crossing and the vault of the main chapel. The restoration took almost three decades. The 16th-century paintings, associated with Alonso González and Pietro Morone, show a naked Adam and Eve and figures from classical mythology - Apollo, Venus, Bacchus. For centuries they were covered in plaster. That's why locals call it the "Sistine Chapel of the Spanish Renaissance".

An experience called Ciborium takes visitors across the terraces, the vaults and the inside of the dome. Places are limited, booking is mandatory, and tickets cost 12 euros.

Hanging houses and a bullring with flats

From Judería street, in the former Jewish quarter, you can see Tarazona's "hanging houses", clinging to the rock face. The Cuesta de Palacio slope leads you back up to the Episcopal Palace. The most unusual building in town is the old bullring from 1792 - octagonal, one of the oldest surviving in Spain, with flats built around the ring itself. People live where bullfights once took place. Today it hosts concerts, festivals and cultural events.

What to eat

The Queiles valley produces chard, artichokes, asparagus, aubergines, courgettes and tomatoes, and its trademarks are borage and cardoon, a relative of the artichoke. Aragonese lamb is served as roast shoulder and leg, as chops, in the "Paquito" sandwich, and even as tartare. Autumn on the Moncayo brings wild mushrooms - porcini and saffron milk caps. The local dish is "rancho turiasonense", a hearty stew of potatoes, rabbit and seasonal vegetables, sometimes with pork or snails. The mountain also supplies potatoes, cheeses, lamb, honey and fruit - peaches, apricots and chordón, a raspberry-like berry. The wine comes from the Campo de Borja appellation. Recommended restaurants: La Zarzamora, Mesón Asador Queiles, Saboya 21 and La Merced de la Concordia.

Tarazona spent almost three decades restoring its dome, and now charges 12 euros to climb up to it. That's an investment that pays back with every visitor - and an argument for every institution that sees heritage as a cost rather than an income.