When we travel we like to be surprised. We like to discover new corners, spaces apparently abandoned by everyone, virgin nature, accompanied by gastronomy that works with local products, making us feel part of the land we are visiting.
That is what the wonderful land of Ejea of the Knights, a municipality that is part of the Cinco Villas region in the province of Zaragoza and a great unknown to tourism in general.
The city of Ejea of the Knights It stands on a hill located between two rivers, the Arma de Luisa and the Biel; bordering to the north with Sádaba, Biota, Luis and Así; to the east, with Orés, Luna and Castellón de Valdejasa; to the south, with Tauste; and to the west with the Foral Community of Navarra.
From Bikefriendly, We want to invite you to discover this great unknown at the stroke of a pedal.. A territory that is going to begin to bet heavily on cycle tourism thanks to the numerous potentials offered by its natural environment.
BLACK BURK AND WHITE BURK
The Aragonese Bardena, in the Cinco Villas, is an area of special interest due to its important vegetation and its variety of birds. Located between Ejea de los Caballeros and Tauste, it constitutes a very important ecological reserve of great faunal interest.
With an area of more than 4.000 hectares and an altitude of about 650 meters, it is also known as “The Black Bardena” by the blackish color of the pine forests in the mountains. Pedaling among its hills, we will be surprised by the strong smell given off by the pine trees and aromatic plants that accompany us; but what will impress us the most will be the so-called “ralla”, rock walls integrated into tabular reliefs that griffon vultures, Egyptian vultures, eagle owls, peregrine falcons and red-billed choughs take advantage of to shelter from the strong sun..
If you are thinking about visiting the wonderful and spectacular landscape of La Bardena, before starting to ride, you must bear in mind that you are going to pass through a protected natural area, so we cannot go off the marked path, and pedaling outside the routes is prohibited. established by official organizations.
If you like mountain biking We recommend that you search for information about that 9 authorized tours through the Bardenas Reales Natural Park.
But, if what you want is to get lost la Black bardena, you can enjoy the great quantity and variety of vegetation, with closed forests of Aleppo pines, steppes and scrublands, with plateaus at different heights and ravines with narrow bottoms.
stop by La Bardena Aragonese Visitor Center, where they will provide you with information about the Signposted routes for cycling.
For those who travel with the little ones in the house, We recommend you take a walk through the bike lane offered by the Parque Lineal del Gancho, in Ejea de los Caballeros. A perimeter walk between garden spaces, rest areas or picnic areas, which will allow you to do complementary activities to the bike such as: bird watching, games in the playground or taking a ride on a pleasure boat in the lagoon.
For cycling lovers A good option when it comes to getting to know the territory is: IX BTT Bardena Negra – Fustiñana on Sunday 16-9-2018.
ROUTES WITH HISTORY THROUGH THE FIVE VILLAS
If what you like is to discover corners full of history, we recommend doing different cultural routes through this historic region. In this case, The bicycle is a good way to visit the towns that we will visit and small sites near them as is the case of Los Bañales, 2 km from Sádaba Castle.
The Route of the Jewish Quarters
The Jewish footprint in the Cinco Villas is spread across a large part of the region with some municipalities in magnificent state of conservation. Ejea de los Caballeros and its Barrio de la Corona, Tauste, Luna, Luesia, Uncastillo and its Barrio Nuevo, El Grago, Biel and the Barrio Verde and Sos del Rey Católico, exhibit the Sephardic past in the different Jewish quarters that were born during the s . XI and XII
The Castle Route
Following by bike in the footsteps of great lords and kings, who through the ages fought numerous battles, which is evident in the large number of buildings that we can see in any corner of the Region.
The Romanesque Route
During this route, we will be able to see one of the most representative signs of the region: the Romanesque art. A tour of towns that still preserve a wonderful medieval air through the terrace of their streets, relevant religious architecture in the Romanesque style, ruins of churches and urban centers now lifeless, testimony of a bygone time or Palaces now converted into beautiful museums for everyone.
A route that runs through the towns of: Ejea de los Caballeros – Luna – El Fago – Biel – Luesia (where you can cool off in the famous Pígalo pools) – Uncastillo – Biota and Sos del Rey Católico.
A cultural route that may interest you:
Tauste BTT Route – Sancho Abarca Sanctuary – Plana de la Negra – Tauste
And, in the future we hope not too distant...
PATHS OF TRANSHUMANCE (from the Pre-Pyrenees to Bardena)
Now we want to show you the possibility that the territory can offer us when it comes to knowing better the life of the shepherd of the Pyrenees. As you well know, the transhumant activity of the Pyrenees has been the main means of subsistence from Prehistory to the last century. Since the Middle Ages, cattle regularly ascended to the Pyrenean valleys from the plain when summer approached. This annual process called transhumance shaped the life and society of the Pyrenean peoples until the 19th century.
Some roads that in Castilla are called Cañadas and in Aragon Cabañeras, and that some Mountain bike lovers and connoisseurs of the environment use it to explore the high Aragonese territory.
Many of these roads could be part of the strong commitment to improving the roads and creating new routes that the Municipality of Ejea de los Caballeros proposes in its commitment to cycle tourism and sports cycling.
From Bikefriendly We encourage you to continue working to recover and generate new cycle routes for all those bike lovers who wish to discover everything this beautiful territory can offer at the touch of a pedal.
Related articles that may interest you: Ejea de los Caballeros trusts Bikefriendly to promote sustainable and quality tourism in the area.
