Daroca

According to certain writers, the primitive Celtiberian village in this location was named Darek. The Romans named it Agiria, building a strong castle to defend the Laminium road, which passed through the village and connected Zaragoza with Valencia.

File:Puerta Baja, Daroca, Zaragoza, España, 2014-01-08, DD 17.JPG

The Arabs gave it the name Calat-Darawca (862), and possessed it for 400 years, until Alfonso the Battler conquered it in 1120, and in 1141 issued a primitive legal code, which is unknown today. In the 12th century, Ramon Berenguer IV gave it the laws and privileges which made it the capital of the Community of Daroca, which had a great social and military influence in the Middle Ages. It had a vote in courts and was the site of several famous assemblies: 1196 (Peter II), 1222-1243 (James I), 1311 (James II), and 1338 (Peter IV), in which peace was arranged with Castile. In a war against Peter of Castile, Daroca resisted a siege, which led to the awarding of the status of city on April 26, 1366.

City life was ruled by the council, whose principal members were the justice, judge, jurors, almutazaf, scribes, major-domos, and other minor officials. The terms for municipal offices lasted one year, and they were elected by the council. The justice was appointed by the king from a set of three candidates chosen by the council, and the judge and jurors were chosen by the king directly. All of this occurred on January 1. Economically, agriculture and livestock were the principal occupations of the inhabitants. There were three social groups, Christians, Jews, and Muslims, which enjoyed the same laws and privileges, although they were organized separately.

The city served as a frequent stop for journeys to places in the area, and was visited by the Catholic Monarchs, Charles I, Philip II, and Philip III, on his route from Madrid to Zaragoza and Catalonia. Philip V also was in Daroca and so was his rival to the throne, Charles II. After the death of Charles II, Daroca embraced the cause of the Austrian pretender to the throne, Charles III, instead of the French-backed candidate Philip, duke of Anjou, which led to the occupation and sacking of the city in the War of Spanish Succession.

This ended almost six centuries of municipal autonomy: the office of the justice disappeared, and was substituted for a royal magistrate; the council was reorganized to remove the jurors and add eight regents, a secretary, and two joint deputies. During the Peninsular War, Napoleon's troops entered Daroca in June 1808, destroying a good part of the Dominican convent, and returned periodically to control the city and attack the resistance; later the French left a permanent garrison. Daroca was liberated in August 1813. France had taken Ferdinand VII of Spain prisoner, and when he returned in 1814, he stayed in Daroca, and communicated a new constitution.

During the Carlist Wars of the 19th century, it was occupied by the Carlist forces in 1834, 1837, and 1872, but all of these were sporadic because Daroca remained loyal to the monarchy of Isabel II. The occupations were due to the geographical proximity of the Carlist redoubt of Maestrazgo.

From the middle of the nineteenth century, the economic situation improved due to successful agriculture, which spurred the development of commerce and small industry. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Teruel-Calatayud railway was built, which strengthened the commercial position of Daroca. In these years, embankments were built in the Jiloca gorge and there was reforestation in an attempt to avoid the disasters caused by periodic flooding. Afterwards the city began to decline, although it kept its position thanks to the industrialization and the mechanization of the field. However, it was not able to adapt to the new times and the markets began to disappear. Today there is an attempt to revitalize commerce and potentially tourism, but agriculture is suffering a difficult reversal, because there are no young people in the area to carry on the traditional viticulture and horticulture, and the fields are filling with forest plants.

• The Wall of Daroca, which has more than 4 km of medieval walls
• Gates: Puerta Baja, Puerta Alta, Portal de Valencia and Arrabal
• Church of San Miguel.
• Church of San Juan.
• Church of Santo Domingo.
• Basilica of Santa María de los Sagrados Corporales, associated with a Eucharistic miracle dated to 1239{{cite web |last1=Daud |first1=Maria Paola |title=The Eucharistic miracle of Daroca that led to the conquest of the Moors |url=https://aleteia.org/2018/03/08/the-eucharistic-miracle-of-daroca-that-led-to-the-conquest-of-the-moors |website=Aleteia |access-date=24 July 2024}}
• Fountain of the twenty pipes

The climate in Daroca is cold semi-arid (BSk) bordering on a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) under the Köppen classification. It has an oceanic with hot summer and cool winter (Doak) Meteocorne (Trewartha Climate Classification) [http://www.meteocorne.it/plugins/climateClassification/trewartha.php] under the Trewartha classification. This type of climate is common in inland Spain, with low annual rainfall and high summer sunshine. Summers are hot, but tempered by elevation. Winters are mild for the elevation and latitude, although cool by Spanish standards.

{{Weather box

|location = Daroca, {{convert|779|m|ft}} above sea level (1991–2020), extremes (1920-present)

|metric first = y

|single line = y

|Jan record high C = 21.3

|Feb record high C = 27.0

|Mar record high C = 28.0

|Apr record high C = 32.7

|May record high C = 36.2

|Jun record high C = 40.7

|Jul record high C = 40.5

|Aug record high C = 41.0

|Sep record high C = 38.6

|Oct record high C = 33.8

|Nov record high C = 25.3

|Dec record high C = 20.0

|year record high C =

|Jan high C = 10.1

|Feb high C = 12.0

|Mar high C = 15.5

|Apr high C = 17.8

|May high C = 22.3

|Jun high C = 27.7

|Jul high C = 31.2

|Aug high C = 31.1

|Sep high C = 25.9

|Oct high C = 20.4

|Nov high C = 13.8

|Dec high C = 10.5

|year high C =

|Jan mean C = 4.8

|Feb mean C = 5.9

|Mar mean C = 8.9

|Apr mean C = 11.2

|May mean C = 15.5

|Jun mean C = 20.2

|Jul mean C = 23.2

|Aug mean C = 23.2

|Sep mean C = 18.6

|Oct mean C = 14.0

|Nov mean C = 8.4

|Dec mean C = 5.4

|year mean C =

|Jan low C = -0.5

|Feb low C = -0.1

|Mar low C = 2.2

|Apr low C = 4.6

|May low C = 8.6

|Jun low C = 12.6

|Jul low C = 15.2

|Aug low C = 15.4

|Sep low C = 11.4

|Oct low C = 7.6

|Nov low C = 3.0

|Dec low C = 0.2

|year low C =

|Jan record low C = -21.2

|Feb record low C = -18.6

|Mar record low C = -12.7

|Apr record low C = -5.7

|May record low C = -2.3

|Jun record low C = 1.8

|Jul record low C = 5.2

|Aug record low C = 3.8

|Sep record low C = -2.3

|Oct record low C = -3.7

|Nov record low C = -11.4

|Dec record low C = -22.4

|year record low C =

|Jan precipitation mm = 21.8

|Feb precipitation mm = 22.0

|Mar precipitation mm = 29.0

|Apr precipitation mm = 47.5

|May precipitation mm = 51.4

|Jun precipitation mm = 46.1

|Jul precipitation mm = 22.0

|Aug precipitation mm = 22.8

|Sep precipitation mm = 34.1

|Oct precipitation mm = 38.1

|Nov precipitation mm = 37.0

|Dec precipitation mm = 23.9

|year precipitation mm =

|precipitation color = green

|Jan rain days = 4.7

|Feb rain days = 4.4

|Mar rain days = 5.7

|Apr rain days = 7.4

|May rain days = 7.6

|Jun rain days = 6.0

|Jul rain days = 3.0

|Aug rain days = 3.3

|Sep rain days = 4.3

|Oct rain days = 5.8

|Nov rain days = 6.1

|Dec rain days = 5.0

|year rain days =

|Jan snow days = 2.4

|Feb snow days = 3.1

|Mar snow days = 1.8

|Apr snow days = 1.1

|May snow days = 0

|Jun snow days = 0

|Jul snow days = 0

|Aug snow days = 0

|Sep snow days = 0

|Oct snow days = 0.1

|Nov snow days = 1.0

|Dec snow days = 1.6

|year snow days =

|Jan humidity = 74

|Feb humidity = 67

|Mar humidity = 62

|Apr humidity = 60

|May humidity = 56

|Jun humidity = 50

|Jul humidity = 44

|Aug humidity = 48

|Sep humidity = 56

|Oct humidity = 64

|Nov humidity = 72

|Dec humidity = 75

|year humidity =

|Jan sun = 130

|Feb sun = 158

|Mar sun = 205

|Apr sun = 219

|May sun = 260

|Jun sun = 303

|Jul sun = 347

|Aug sun = 319

|Sep sun = 243

|Oct sun = 192

|Nov sun = 135

|Dec sun = 115

|year sun =

|source 1 = Agencia Estatal de Meteorología{{cite web|url=https://www.aemet.es/es/datos_abiertos/AEMET_OpenData|title=AEMET OpenData|publisher=Agencia Estatal de Meteorología| access-date=2 December 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://www.aemet.es/es/serviciosclimaticos/datosclimatologicos/efemerides_extremos?w=0&k=arn&l=9390&datos=det|title=Valores Extremos - Daroca|access-date=2 December 2024}}

|date= October 2016

}}

• Festival of Antique Music (August).
• Corpus (May–June).
• San Cristóbal (10 July).
• Medieval Market (Last weekend of July)

• {{flagicon|FRA}} Pouillon, France

• List of municipalities in Zaragoza

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons}}

• [http://www.aragoneria.com/zaragoza/daroca Daroca datos básicos] {{in lang|es}}
• [http://cicic.unizar.es/Daroca/ Comarcas de Daroca y Calamocha] {{in lang|es}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060909213242/http://www.zaragoza-ciudad.com/aragon/ruta4/daroca.htm Daroca] {{in lang|es}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060717071800/http://www.daroca.org/lobby/ Daroca] {{in lang|es}}
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070312003115/http://www.caiaragon.com/es/municipios/index.asp?idloc=716&tipo=0 Ficha de la población]}} {{in lang|es}}
• [http://www.daroca.info/ Página semioficial] {{in lang|es}}

{{Municipalities in Zaragoza}}

{{authority control}}

Category:Municipalities in the Province of Zaragoza