VALDERROBRES CITY COUNCIL

It is a building inspired by the Town Hall of Alcañiz, although here a fish market would be added for commercial purposes in addition to the administrative and judicial ones that the building already had. It was probably built under the orders of the master Antonio de Champanyach in the Mannerist style and was finished in 1599, a date that appears sculpted on the coat of arms of the facade. This shield has the peculiarity of providing for the first time the figures of two griffins, a male and a female, to the traditional oak shield that had been symbolizing Valderrobres since the 13th century.
In 1847 a painter (possibly Jerónimo Palau) was commissioned to decorate the façade with an allegorical painting and on which even today, despite its deterioration, the emblem "peace, union and freedom" can be read.
In 1929 the building was reproduced in the Pueblo Español exhibition in Barcelona.

THE STONE BRIDGE

Valderrobres could hardly have a more spectacular entrance than that provided by the impressive medieval bridge and the Portal de San Roque. A fundamental part of its architecture and image perfectly recognisable wherever our town is mentioned.
The construction of the bridge seems to be associated with that of its walls, so we could date the beginning of the work to build it around 1390, with the request that Archbishop García Fernández de Heredia made to King Juan I to build these fortifications. It would be much more difficult to state with certainty the date of its conclusion, surely at the beginning of the 15th century and being Valderrobres under the prelacy of Dalmau de Mur, also responsible for the highest floors of our castle.
It is a completely medieval bridge, with four eyes, extremely solid and provided with wedge-shaped cutwaters designed to protect it from strong floods and avoid the accumulation of trunks. In the 16th century, the Town Hall was built over the last section of the bridge, thus modifying its appearance in the final section as it connects to the square.
The bridge crosses the old main entrance to the walled enclosure. At the end of the 16th century this gate was dedicated to San Roque, protector against epidemics and patron saint of the population, remaining today as one of the best preserved gates of the whole complex.

VERGÓS PORTAL

In the framework of the medieval Valderrobres, the gates that crossed its walls gave access to the town, were a fundamental piece.
It is very possible that in the surroundings of Valderrobres there was already a set of walls in the times of the Reconquest and that probably in the time of Archbishop Fernandez de Heredia needed to be repaired or expanded in view of population growth, for which the prelate asks permission from John I, to charge an armchair and with that money to fortify the town again.
There were seven exits in the layout of these walls, each corresponding to an access road that would take us to one of the surrounding villages. In the case of the Portal de Vergós, it seems that this was the exit that led to the neighbouring town of Torre del Compte.
With the passage of time, each of these exits was sanctified and placed under the protection of a saint from the Christian pantheon, leaving the portal under the auspices of the Immaculate Conception, as witnessed by a niche, now empty, on the façade of one of the houses attached to the wall.

THE HERMITAGE OF THE SAINTS

It is difficult to say precisely when this hermitage was built in honour of San Abdón and San Senén, although most of the information available points to a date around 1420.
Architecturally it is difficult to situate it in a specific style, even more so if we take into account that throughout its history it has suffered numerous collapses and consequently numerous reconstructions such as that of 1685, the year that is engraved on the façade, and in which the attached house that the hermit inhabited was most probably added to the temple.
This hermit was not only in charge of taking care of the chapel but also of teaching letters to the young inhabitants of the surrounding farmhouses and ringing the bell in case of a storm or simply to mark the hours, a tradition that was maintained until the 1930s.
Nowadays, the big day of the chapel is the 19th of August, when the inhabitants of Valderrobres come there in a pilgrimage to celebrate a country meal and participate in games of deep-rooted popular tradition.

THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

Valderrobres is located in the northwest of the province of Teruel, in the Matarraña river basin, at the foot of the Beceite ports, the point where the Iberian System meets the Catalan Coastal Mountain Range.
The Matarraña valley has an inland Mediterranean climate. With cold temperatures in winter and warm in summer, but without reaching great extremes in any of the cases. Rainfall is concentrated in autumn and spring, although it is not usually abundant and has a cyclical component, alternating dry years with years of abundant rainfall.

THE VEGETATION

The differences in altitude in the region nuance and differentiate the climate in its different territories, which is visibly reflected in the vegetation. The human factor has also modified the vegetation over time.
The highest area of the territory is in the natural park of Los Puertos (700-1,400 m.) where wild pine, Aleppo pine and juniper predominate,

boxwood and juniper, among others.
Some trees, such as oaks and holm oaks, are relatively rare today, but everything seems to indicate that they were much more abundant centuries ago.
As for the cultivated area, almonds and olives predominate, and because of their predominance and identification with the local culture they have become true symbols of the territory.

THE FAUNA

One of the most characteristic animals of the territory is the Hispanic goat, which cannot be separated from the territory of the Beceite ports.
The large rocks and abrupt cuts make the territory ideal for large birds of prey, of which the vulture has significantly increased its population in recent years.
Among other bird species we find the Egyptian vulture, the golden eagle, the owl or the peregrine falcon.
As for the population of the forests we can find reptiles such as the snub-nosed viper, or the wild boar which continues to be one of the most common despite

to be the primary target of the territory's hunting grounds.
In the trees we find the red squirrel, the genet or the common sparrowhawk. On

As for the rivers, the presence of the blackbird, the madrilla, the trout

and the crayfish. 
Another of the symbols of the region of the Matarraña is the otter that in spite of being a species in danger enjoys a certain stability in the Matarraña thanks to the adopted protection measures.