Ayerbe
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Ayerbe is a town in the Hoya de Huesca comarca, in the autonomous community of Aragon in Spain.
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[edit] Geography
Ayerbe is located 28 km from Huesca on highway A 132 in the direction of Pamplona, on the Gállego river. It is bounded the Rocks of Riglos and Loarre to the north; to the east by Loarre and Loscorrales; to the south by Lupiñén-Ortilla, and on the west by Biscarrues and Murillo de Gállego. It is located at , with a height above the sea of Alicante of 582 m. and an area of 63.29 square kilometres. It is located in an excavated erosive depression in the surface of the Tertiary period.
The soil is dry, loose and stony, generally level with a sprinkling of small isolated hills, suitable for irrigation. The land is largely covered by grapevine and olive trees, with oak and almond trees making a comeback. It is also populated by rosemary, gorse and other shrubs in addition to grass. There are occasional occurrences of rabbits, hares, partridges, and doves.
[edit] Points of interest
The town center features two rectangular plazas outside the 16th-century palace of the Marquesses de Ayerbe (declared an historical monument in 1931), and in general it is the collection of domestic architecture and other architecturally distinguished buildings that make a visit to Ayerbe of special attraction.
The pride of Ayerbe is that D. Santiago Ramón y Cajal, winner of the 1906 Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine, lived here for ten years. The town promotes his memory with a museum and center of interpretation; the public library of Ayerbe contains a Cajal collection with more than 250 works and documents for public use.
Ayerbe enjoys a public library, casino, bars, municipal swimming pool and, around the town, a network of footpaths, fields and highways for walkers and cyclists. Other attractions include the natural park of the Fontaneta (at ) and the fountain "La Fuente de los Tres Caños".
[edit] Fiestas and celebrations
The Fiesta of Santa Leticia takes place around September 9th and lasts for four to six days. A sculpture of the Saint is carried in procession, its pedestal garlanded with grapes; figures of giants and "cabezudos" parade in the streets and pyrotechnic figures of bulls race through the town every night.
In 2005 the 6th meeting of the Giants of Aragon took place in the town, bringing together 72 giant figures from all over Aragon: 32 bands, 166 musicians and 140 figure-carriers took part.
"The week of the mushrooms" has been celebrated in the town for years in the month of October and constitutes a social event of an international level.
[edit] See also
- Palace of Ayerbe article at Spanish Wikipedia (in Spanish)
[edit] External links
