In Maestrazgo, dry stone architecture is a permanent feature of the landscape. Kilometers of stone walls crisscross the entire region. Most of the walls we see today on mountain slopes are to prevent landslides of the fertile topsoil and to create terraced strips of arable land in the form of terraces. In addition, they solve other needs such as storing the stone from stoning the fields (a typical activity on Maundy Thursday), separating properties, or preventing cattle from entering the crops.
But it is the dry stone huts that are the most singular manifestations, particularly those located in the area of Iglesuela del Cid. They are built without mortar and covered with a vault or false dome. They are simple buildings, but of great functionality in the past. They were linked to a way of life based on agriculture and livestock, especially transhumance. There are more than 550 huts throughout the municipality, highlighting the Caseta Fernandito, the largest, and the curious Caseticas del Cura, on the road to the hermitage of the Virgen del Cid.
All these elements constitute an exceptional heritage, declared an Asset of Cultural Interest in 2002. The construction technique was also declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2018.
