Ejea de los Caballeros

Ejea de los Caballeros (Spanish: [eˈxea ðe los kaβaˈʎeɾos]; Aragonese: Exeya d'os Caballers), commonly known simply as Ejea, is a town and municipality in the province of Zaragoza, part of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It is one of the five main towns in the Comarca de las Cinco Villas (lit. 'Shire of the Five Villages'), along with Sos del Rey Católico, Uncastillo, Sádaba, and Tauste.

The town became part of the medieval Kingdom of Aragon in 1105 during the Spanish Reconquista, as Muslim rule in the region was receding.

By the late 15th century, Ejea de los Caballeros was home to a small Jewish community of roughly thirty families.^[2] On 1 July 1492, Juan de Peramán, an emissary of the Inquisition of Zaragoza, entered the synagogue and ordered the muqaddamin (community leaders) to surrender all communal books, including Torah scrolls, Talmudic tractates, Bible commentaries, and halakhic codes such as the Turim.^[2] The books, totaling over 260, were confiscated under threat of excommunication and transported to the Inquisition headquarters in Zaragoza.^[2] In the following weeks, the community petitioned Martín de Gurrea, who was responsible for the expulsion, to appoint an escort for their departure, agreeing to pay 2,000 sueldos for transport to the port of exile, though they were temporarily detained until debts to the Crown were settled.^[2] By 1 August 1492, Leon Albo delivered the Torah scroll to the officials responsible for the expulsion, indicating that the Jewish community had left the town, likely embarking from a nearby port such as Tortosa-Ampolia.^[2]

The town retains many medieval buildings, including:

• The Romanesque church of Santa María de la Corona. It was renewed in 1649–1650.
• The church of San Salvador, of the Romanesque-Gothic transition style. It has a 16th-century portal with Romanesque sculptures.
• The church of our Lady the Virgin of the Olive (Nuestra Señora la Virgen de la Oliva), renovated in 1765 over a pre-existing medieval building.

The municipality of Ejea de los Caballeros comprises nine different centres of population:

• Ejea de los Caballeros
• Bardenas
• El Bayo
• El Sabinar
• Farasdués
• Pinsoro
• Rivas
• Santa Anastasia
• Valareña

Rivas and Farasdués are two historic villages that have been dependencies of Ejea for decades. The other six centres were built in the 1950s and 1960s in order to settle inhabitants and farmers to grow irrigation crops, following the construction of the Yesa Reservoir and Bardenas irrigation channel that brought water to these villages, among others (Sádaba, Tauste, and others).

The main local festival honours the Virgin of the Olive, the local saint. In June, there is also a medieval celebration for the patron saint, Saint John the Baptist.

Another local festival commemorates The Vote Day (January 14), an event during the Black Plague in which the townsfolk voted for the bringing of the Virgin of the Olive across the town to worship her. The plague is purported to have ended in the town that day.

• Alberto Zapater – footballer
• Alberto Soro – footballer who plays for Granada CF
• Artistas del Gremio – brass band^[3]

• Marmande, France
• Portogruaro, Italy

• List of municipalities in Zaragoza