Layer of time · 1129 – 15th century
The frontier and the Señorío
Borderland between Castile and Aragon, the Señorío de Molina was almost an independent kingdom: castles, watchtowers, a Cistercian monastery, and the salt pans of Armallá already recorded in the 12th-century charter of Manrique de Lara.
A selection of traces related to this era. Dates correspond to the historical layer; a location may have other origins, transformations, and subsequent uses. Contested attributions are noted in their guides.
Stories of this layer
- A mountain landscape written in names
The 1404–1407 dispute between Molina and Albarracín over Sierra Molina preserved 33 names of springs, livestock tracks, folds and passes.
- The salt of the earth: inland saltworks in Alto Tajo
Armallá, Saelices de la Sal, Terzaga and La Inesperada: making salt far from the sea, and the wealth it brought to lords and kings.
- A state between two kingdoms: the Lordship of Molina
From Manrique de Lara to the council of 1813: charter, sexmas, doña Blanca, Torre de Aragón and noble houses. The history behind the region’s name.
Where its trace endures
Castle of Rochafrida (Beteta): the fortress upon the black cliff
Beteta
Torre de Doña Blanca (Taravilla): Watchtower Over the Cabrillas
Taravilla
Castle of Santiuste (Corduente): the 15th-century fortified house
Corduente
Sanctuary of the Virgen de la Hoz: the hermitage beneath red cliffs
Corduente, Ventosa
Monastery of Buenafuente del Sistal: Cistercian nuns since 1246
Buenafuente del Sistal
Fortified house of Vega de Arias (Tierzo): Casa del Cid
Tierzo
Armallá Salt Pans (Tierzo): Salt of the Señorío Since Roman Times
Tierzo
Castle of Arbeteta: the rock fortress guarding the Tagus route
ArbetetaRiba de Saelices watchtower: the Berber tower above Los Casares cave
Riba de Saelices
Castle of Molina de Aragón: 12th-century fortress and Torre de Aragón
Molina de Aragón
Castle of Zafra: the rock fortress of the Sierra de Caldereros
Castle of Embid: the pentagonal stronghold of the Aragon frontier
Embid
Castle of the Mala Sombra (Establés): history and legend
EstablésTorre de La Yunta: Tower of the Order of Saint John
La Yunta
Hermitage of Santa Catalina of Hinojosa: Romanesque among junipers
HinojosaChurch of Santiago in Labros: a recovered Romanesque gem
Labros
Castle of Villel de Mesa: the rock fortress of the Funes
Villel de MesaRoble de la Sexma: where the Sierra representatives were elected
AlcorochesCobeta Tower: Surviving Remnant of the Tovar Castle
CobetaHermitage of the Virgen de la Carrasca: Romanesque in Sierra de Caldereros
Castellar de la Muela
Castle of Castilnuevo: from fortress to palatial manor
CastilnuevoTorre de la Cigüeña: The Watchtower Over Anguita and the Tajuña
AnguitaPonce de León Tower (Cubillejo de la Sierra) and its Museum
Cubillejo de la SierraCastle of Albalate de Tajuña (Luzaga)
LuzagaFortified house of La Bujeda (Traíd)
Traíd
Puente Viejo of Molina de Aragón: the red stone Romanesque bridge
Molina de AragónChurch of Santa Clara (Molina de Aragón): the Romanesque gem of the town
Molina de Aragón
Torre de Aragón: Molina's Pentagonal Watchtower and Interpretation Centre
Molina de Aragón
Prao de los Judíos (Molina de Aragón): the Jewish quarter beneath the castle
Molina de AragónThe era on the map
450 million years ago – present
Before us
Before people, the Alto Tajo was a cold sea near the south pole, a forest buried by ash, a plain of red rivers, salt lagoons, and a tropical ocean; later the earth buckled and the Tagus carved through it. Each era left a rock that can still be seen today.
Upper Palaeolithic – Bronze Age
First traces
Before villages there were rock shelters. In the Cueva de los Casares, Upper Palaeolithic hunters engraved horses, stags, and human figures on the cave walls; at the Gallo shelters and Peña Escrita, later peoples left schematic painted signs on the stone.
7th – 1st centuries BC
Celtiberian hillforts
Settlements perched on spurs with defensive ditches, dry-stone ramparts, and fields of chevaux-de-frise stones. El Ceremeño, Peña Moñuz, and Castil de Griegos tell how people lived, defended themselves, and worked iron in Celtiberia before Rome.
1st – 4th centuries AD
Rome in the canyon
A double-tiered aqueduct in Zaorejas, perhaps linked to a mansio on the road between Laminium and Caesaraugusta, and the iron mining galleries of Cueva del Hierro: Rome arrived in the Alto Tajo in search of water, transport routes, and metal.
1129 – 15th century
The frontier and the Señorío
Borderland between Castile and Aragon, the Señorío de Molina was almost an independent kingdom: castles, watchtowers, a Cistercian monastery, and the salt pans of Armallá already recorded in the 12th-century charter of Manrique de Lara.
16th – 19th centuries
Salt, iron and timber
The Crown took control of the salt pans, ironworks drove tilt hammers with river water, and every winter thousands of logs floated down the Tagus toward Aranjuez guided by timbermen.
1860 – 1960
Resin, hooks and pastoral shelters
The century when the mountains sustained everyday life: resin tappers scoring pine trunks, shepherds sheltering under juniper-thatched chozones, lime kilns smoking beside villages. A world that faded within a single generation.
1936 – 1939
The frontline on the river
The canyon formed part of the Civil War frontline: positions atop the cliffs, guarded river crossings, and bunkers. The memory of the war also encompasses the Molina guerrillas, forestry labor, and local families. The Upper Tajuña valley traces this history on the western flank.
1950 – present
Villages that emptied
Reservoirs severed the river to floating timber, motor trucks retired the muleteers, and villagers migrated to Madrid, Valencia, or Barcelona. Some hamlets were abandoned completely; others endure with a handful of year-round residents.