Catarecha, Deserted medieval village in Valle de Echo, Spain.

Catarecha is a deserted medieval village in the Aragonese Pyrenees, in the municipality of Valle de Echo, Huesca, near Urdués, on the edge of the Santolaria stream, a tributary of the Aragón Subordán. Its only standing building is the hermitage of the Virgen de Catarecha, rebuilt in 1659.

Catarecha is a medieval deserted village in the Jacetania region, near Urdués in the present-day municipality of Valle de Echo. Its first documented mention dates from 1215, recorded in the Libro de la Cadena del Concejo de Jaca by Dámaso Sangorrín. The sources give the name in the forms Catarecha, Catharexa, Catareia, Cathareia and Katereita. Nothing in them dates the abandonment.

The only building still standing at Catarecha is the Hermitage of the Virgin of Catarecha, rebuilt in 1659 on the site of the medieval village. The place name may come from cadreita, a local word for a waterfall, and is perhaps related to Cadreita in Navarre. The village is recorded under variants such as Catharexa, Catareia and Katereita.

This location is reached only by hiking trails through Valle de Echo, requiring good physical preparation and proper footwear. The paths are uneven and exposed to mountain weather, so visitors should plan their visit accordingly.

The name Catarecha probably comes from the word cadreita, meaning a waterfall, according to the Aragonese scholar Manuel Benito Moliner. The same origin may be shared with Cadreita in Navarre. The village stood at the edge of the clamor de Santolaria, a stream feeding the Aragón Subordán river.