Get to know Valjunquera from different perspectives: the Church of San Miguel offers a glimpse into the Baroque architecture of the Comarca del Matarraña, while hermitages, viewpoints and festival traditions provide further insight into the town. During your stay, you can focus on architectural history, the landscape or the annual cycle of local customs.
Baroque architecture at San Miguel and the hermitages
The Church of San Miguel was built between 1734 and 1747 under the direction of master builder Cosme Bayod. It is considered one of the most outstanding examples of Baroque architecture in the entire Comarca del Matarraña. Its striking features include an impressive, two-part altarpiece on the façade. It was designed by Juan Antonio MartĂn, with artistic contributions from JoaquĂn Espada, a sculptor from Valjunquera.
The church’s architectural design is also noteworthy. San Miguel follows the “estela pilarista,” an influential model whose center of dissemination was the collegiate church in Alcañiz. The Hermitage of the Virgen de la Piedad, popularly known as “la Mare de Déu,” represents a different period. It was built between 1697 and 1699 and is also an example of Aragonese Baroque. The Hermitage of Santa Bárbara, in turn, is protected as a cultural heritage site in the Bien de Interés Cultural category.
Viewpoints and paths through the cultural landscape
Santa Bárbara is the older of Valjunquera’s two hermitages. It sits on a hill and offers panoramic views over the municipality. The unpaved path to the hermitage branches off a road on the other side of Valjunquera. La Parra offers a different perspective: this elevated viewpoint looks out over olive and almond groves, neighboring villages and the surrounding mountain ranges.
The Valjunquera–Mas del Labrador–Valdeltormo route also takes in characteristic features of the landscape. It passes old threshing floors and dry-stone walls and runs through fields of almond trees, olive trees and grain. The views around the town and along the route thus showcase different landscapes, from vistas across the municipality to agricultural fields and their built features.
Festivals and traditions throughout the year
A municipal post dated July 15, 2019, describes the annual San Cristóbal festival, which includes a Mass, the distribution of blessed bread and the blessing of residents’ vehicles. On Saint Christopher’s Day, residents of Valjunquera also make an annual pilgrimage to the Hermitage of Santa Bárbara. The procession and the festival are two distinct traditions that mark the same saint’s day in different ways.
The San AntĂłn and Quintos festival begins on January 17 with the lighting of a large bonfire. A municipal post dated January 17, 2019, also describes how firewood is brought in trailers to build the traditional fire. The Fiestas Mayores are also associated with a specific date: they begin around September 29 in honor of San Miguel. On the third day of the festivities, a flower offering is held each year, accompanied by a solemn procession from the parish church to the Hermitage of the Virgen de la Piedad.
One local term is “Choriset”: this is what Jueves Lardero, or Lardero Thursday, is called in Valjunquera. Since the 1990s, residents of Valdeltormo and Valjunquera have gathered for a shared meal in Mas del Labrador at the end of August. These customs are spread across several dates and places rather than being concentrated in a single festival.
Mas del Labrador: history and gathering
Mas del Labrador has both an architectural and a cinematic history. The Church of San Juan Bautista is the only building still standing in the abandoned settlement. In the 1990s, Mas del Labrador also served as a filming location for Vicente Aranda’s film “Libertarias,” set during the Spanish Civil War.
The Museum of Valjunquera offers a historical view of the Matarraña: its archive contains more than 3,000 images documenting the region’s recent history from the late 19th century to the 1960s. At the Valjunquera Tapa Fair, tapas are prepared by local associations, businesses in the town and professionals from other places. Together, the archive and the culinary event add further facets of local life to the architectural and landscape themes.
Discover more destinations: Mora De Rubielos, La Mata De Los Olmos, Puig Moreno, Calaceite, Villarroya De Los Pinares, Linares De Mora, Fuentes De Rubielos, Teruel.
Back to the main travel overview: Teruel.
