Albarracín is a rose coloured mountain village just 28km from Teruel in the region of Aragon.  It is one of the least known and most breathtaking places in Spain. Visitors to this beautiful Spanish village will be amazed by it’s unspoilt beauty.

• The Castle & Walls
• The Cathedral
• The Houses

Albarracin is a maze of narrow lanes between tall stone houses within a medieval castle wall perched 3400 feet above the Guadalaviar River.  The whole village has been declared by UNESCO to be a World Heritage site.

The Castle and Walls

Although Albarracín benefits from a well defendible position on the slopes of the deep gorges of the Guadalaviar river, the Arabs also built two fortresses or "alcázares", one in the lower part of the town and the most impressive one on a hill behind the cathedral. If you are feeling energetic, take your walking shoes and walk/climb the town walls up to the crest of the hill and the top castle.

The Cathedral

The current cathedral of El Salvador is attached to the old Episcopal Palace. Although built in the 13th century and remodelled in the 16th century, the cathedral has clear Mudejar influences.  It possesses just one nave and a tower with no façade.  From the front terrace you can look out over the whole village.  The Episcopal Palace now houses the Diocesan Museum and contains a valuable collection of Flemish tapestries.

The Houses

The most striking feature of Albarracin as you approach it is the colour, most of the original stone houses are painted a rustic reddish colour with the exception of one, near the Plaza Mayor, whose rebellious owner has painted his bright blue.  

Many houses are decorated with beautiful wooden balconies and where the buildings lean together above the streets the inhabitants are known to sit on their balcony chatting with their neighbour across the way.

Like Cuenca, some of the houses are built precariously on the cliff edge and bear tribute to their builders that centuries after their construction they have not fallen into the gorge below.


To visit Albarracín and walk around its steep narrow cobbled streets is to go back centuries in time. The higher you climb, the tighter the bundle of little picturesque houses gets, and when you arrive at the top and walk up to the castle, the view of the village and its surroundings is simply breathtaking.