Aliste (comarca)

Aliste is a comarca located in the west of the province of Zamora, Castile and León, Spain, bordering with Portugal in the west and in the south. It covers 193,883 hectares. Aliste is an area that has preserved a rich cultural and ethnological tradition through years of isolation. Aliste is perhaps the poorest zone within the province, the economy of this deeply rural comarca is based on cattle rearing. The origin of the name Aliste appears as Alesti in a 9th Century manuscript, referring to the trees (alisos) which can be seen on the banks of what is now called the Aliste River.

The Aliste comarca is one of the few areas in Western Europe having a sizeable population of wild wolves living in the Sierra de la Culebra mountain range in the northwest of the comarca.

The terrain is rolling and hilly, alternating with dry landscapes typical to neighboring regions of Portugal. It is bisected by the River Aliste, near which is abundant vegetation, oak trees, and brush. There is a national game reserve located in the Sierra de la Culebra (65,981 hectares), which has the largest population of wolves in the Iberian Peninsula.

This comarca has various examples of Romanic art in its churches, which can be seen in Tabara, or the clocktower of Alcañices, as well as the castle of Riomanzanas. There are also historical sites associated with the Templars.

The comarca has a diverse regional cuisine, with a famous breed of local cattle known as Ternera de Aliste. Other popular foods include pork, which is slaughtered in local ritual festivals believed to originate with the early Celtic inhabitants of the region.

There are various local music traditions, often employing the bagpipe, flute, and drum, as is common throughout Zamora. The gaita alistana, a type of traditional bagpipe, is associated with the region, and bears some resemblance to the neighboring gaita transmontana and gaita sanabresa.

...
Wikipedia