Aula· Spain, city by cityLa Rioja
Alfaro
«Alfaro tiene la mayor colonia de cigüeñas en una iglesia.»Alfaro has the largest colony of storks in a church.
Alfaro is the easternmost municipality in La Rioja, located on the banks of the Ebro on the border with Navarre. It was founded by Rome in 179 BC under the name Graccurris, and the largest colony of storks in the world on a single building nests on the roof of its brick collegiate church.
Did you know
One hundred stork nests one roof.
The largest urban colony of white storks in Europe nests on the roof of the Colegiata de San Miguel, with over one hundred permanent specimens.
How they talk in Alfaro
«Cigüeña» is a word impossible to ignore here because dozens of nests occupy the Colegiata. «Ribera» indicates the agricultural landscape linked to the Ebro and its vegetable gardens.
golmajería
Confectionery, sweets, or a collection of treats. Used to talk about sweets and pastry preparations from the Riojan tradition.
Everyday life in Alfaro
The storks on the church roof
San Miguel hosts the largest white stork colony in the world on a single building: more than a hundred nests on the same roof, and the sound of their beaks can be heard all over the square.
«¿Cuántos nidos hay este año?» — How many nests are there this year?
The Ebro with the riparian forest
The river passes next to the town and forms the «sotos», flooded forests full of birds: there are walkways and hides, and people go for walks on Sundays.
The «pimiento» and the cannery
Peppers and vegetables are grown around the town and end up in the local canneries: in September the smell of roasted peppers can be smelled in the streets.
«Un bote de pimientos asados.» — A jar of roasted peppers.
What to eat in Alfaro
Chuletillas al sarmiento
Lamb chops over vine shoots, eaten with your hands.
Patatas a la riojana
Broken potatoes with chorizo and dried pepper.
Menestra riojana
Vegetables from the garden stewed one by one and then combined, with ham and egg.
Festivals in Alfaro
San Blas
3 February
The «rosco» is blessed and eaten to avoid throat illnesses, while on the roofs of the collegiate church the storks are already returning.
San Roque y San Ezequiel
from 14 to 20 August
The «chupinazo» opens a week of floats and peñas, with the storks watching from the roofs.
What to see in Alfaro
Colegiata de San Miguel
On the roof there are more than a hundred stork nests: it is the largest colony in the world on a single building.
Graccurris
The remains of the first city founded by Rome in Hispania with a Latin name, in 179 BC.
Sotos del Ebro
The forest of poplars and willows along the river, with paths and birds.
Where Alfaro comes from
A hundred stork nests on a single roof
179 BC
Graccurris
Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus founds it: it is the first city that Rome founds in Hispania with a Latin name.
8th–12th century
The frontier
A border city between the Christian kingdoms and the Muslims, contested for centuries.
17th century
The collegiate church
The large brick church is built, which will become the nest for a colony of storks.
20th century → today
The storks
The colony on the roof of the collegiate church is the largest in the world on a single building.
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