Route of the castles
Aragón conserves numerous castles, built between the 9th and the 16th centuries. Most of them were erected as strategical sites or as refuges, and some were meant to be the residence for the nobility. Few of the Aragonese castles stand on the plain, we frequently find them on hills or rocks.
JACA (THE CITADEL)
It has been declared National Monument. Felipe II ordered its
construction in 1591, and the building was first called San Pedro
Castle. Its pentagonal plan has a grandiose size, with its moat
and counterscarp. It is built on a plain. There is a typical bastion
on each angle and an ample walkway allows to walk round the whole
perimeter. In some of the corners there are sentry-boxes. The
moat is crossed by a bridge with three arches and a drawbridge.
The doorway has an Herrerian style. The interior is a vast pentagonal
square surrounded by pavilions with two storeys of arches supported
by pillars.
San Pedro chapel (18th C.) is an isolated building with a bell
gable and a Baroque doorway. In Jaca we can also visit the Romanesque
cathedral (11th C.), the Benedictine monastery, Santiago church,
the hermitage of Sarsa, San Miguel bridge, the Clock Tower and
the Town Hall.
UNCASTILLO
In the Cinco Villas area, Uncastillo was the main fortress on
the defensive line against Navarra. It is one of the biggest and
best located in Aragón: on a very steep cliff, around which
the castle was built between the rivers Riguel and Cadenas, which
became the castle’s moats. It has oval plan, about 115x75
metres, and occupies a total extension of around 6600m2.
SADABA
In the area of Cinco Villas, 90 km. from Zaragoza. The castle
is built on a hill. In former times the town was at its foot,
but in the 15th C. it was moved to the other bank of the river.
The castle is from the late Medieval period, with Cistercian decorations
(13th C.). Its plan is quadrilateral, almost rectangular, 38x30
metres, on an area of more than 1000 m2. Its walls are of an even
height and quite elevated, having seven towers with rectangular
plan, four of them on the corners. A narrow walkway goes through
the towers by means of passages. The doorway, next to one of the
towers, gives access to an open hallway through which we enter
the big courtyard. In the centre there is an aljibe (cistern),
with a high capacity. We can also visit the Gothic church of Santa
María and the hermitage of Puilampa, from the 11th. century.
There are interesting Roman remains in the surroundings.
MONZON
70 km. from Huesca, taking the road to Lérida, we find
this fortress on a steep hill. It was the assembly site for the
three courts of the three realms belonging to the Realm of Aragón.
It is a National Monument. The primitive Muslim fortress called
Monçones, was conquered by the Christian kings and became
the main settlements of the Temple order. Numerous sieges have
taken place during its history.
CALATAYUD
On the road Zaragoza-Madrid. It is the most genuine Hispanic-Muslim
town in Aragón. Declared Historic and Monumental Ensemble.
It was founded next to the fortress of Ayub, attributed to Ayub-ben-Habid,
the nephew of Muza-ben-Nusair, conqueror of Spain. The site is
just few kilometres away from the destroyed Roman city of Bílbilis.
The castle of Ayub is in ruins. It was of vast size, 100x50 m.,
with an irregular plan and two areas, topographically terraced.
Drawbridges gave access to it. There were other four castles:
those of the Clock, of Don Álvaro, of the Cliff and of
the Consolation. The outer walls of the lower area enclose the
town and link its castles. There are several towers. The area
of the lower town has completely disappeared. Only the doorways
of Somajas (or of Zaragoza) and of Terrer have survived. The Cliff
(la Peña) castle was situated on the site where we now
find the Sanctuary of the Virgin of La Peña. In Calatayud
we can also visit the Collegiate church of San Pedro de los Francos
(14th C.) and the church of San Andrés. Nearby are the
ruins of the Roman city of Bílbilis.
ALCAÑIZ
It belongs to the Bajo Aragón area, 160 km. from Teruel.
The castle-convent where the Calatrava order settled dominated
the town from its high position. Almost all the styles have left
a trace, from Romanesque to Baroque. It was a kind of towered
fortress with trapezoid plan, but it was modificated in the 18th
century. Nowadays it has been restored and made into a Parador
Nacional (the Paradores Nacionales are state-run tourist hotels
in monumental, Historic-Artistic buildings).
PERACENSE
About 45 km. from Teruel, this fortress hangs from an isolated
cliff of the Menera Sierra. It was built around the first half
of the 14th C., for a strictly military use. The north and east
sides are inaccessible. In the south and west a wall was built:
it has the form of a right angle, it is 3 metres thick and is
reinforced by three rectangular towers. There are machicolations
and several merlons of the battlements have been kept. Nowadays
it is being restored. The entrance to the castle is a narrow gate
at the edge of the cliff. The fortress has irregular square plan,
and it extends over 4000 m2.
MORA DE RUBIELOS
41 km. from Teruel. This castle is located on a hill of Gúdar
Sierra. Its exterior is military, severe and quite closed. It
extends over an area of 4000 m2. It follows the Gothic style (13th
C.). It has an irregular quadrilateral plan and its four façades
are different, as well as the four towers. The structure is the
usual one in noble fortresses: rooms around an open courtyard,
quite vast, with a cloister-like look of pointed arches resting
on octagonal columns. In the rooms only some old doors and windows
and rests of glazed tile have remained. In July and August theatre
performances are held in the castle, organized by the Diputación
General de Aragón and the Diputación Provincial
de Teruel as part of their cultural programmes.
SOS DEL REY CATÓLICO
Sos was one of the most important fortified sites in the Cinco
Villas area during the 10th and 11th centuries. Its splendid setting
on a high spur, in the foothills of La Peña sierra, makes
the town become a real natural fortress. Two promontories stand
out: the southern, with the Sada Palace (Historic-Artistic Monument),
where king Fernando el Católico was born in 1452, has battlements
that give it a fortress-like look. In the northern, called Feliciana
cliff, Ramiro II had the castle built: from here the ample visibility
allows to see the Pyrenean mountains and those of Navarra (Sangüesa).
LOARRE
29 km. from Huesca we find the most important Aragonese castle,
declared National Monument. From the point of view of the architecture
and sculpture, it is one of the most perfect examples of Romanesque
art in Spain and in Europe. The castle is built on a rock of about
2200 m2. It is surrounded by a long outer wall, reaching a total
extent of about 10000 m2. The Queen’s Tower, with the chapel,
dates back to a previous period, having Arab reminiscences. The
church and the rest of the military buildings belong to a later
period (11th and 12th centuries). The keep, with rectangular plan,
stands out over the whole ensemble with its 22 metres of height.
It was a military tower. The Queen’s Mirador (viewpoint)
is a modification of the south walls of the primitive castle.
ALQUEZAR
48 km. from Huesca, taking Barbastro road. Alquézar is
an interesting example of a small town that has kept its Medieval
lay-out almost intact. It has been declared Historic-Artistic
Monument. The primitive castle, from the 10th-11th C., must have
been just the tower, with very thick walls, probably Muslim. A
bit lower there is a rural Romanesque chapel. In the front there
is a calvary with three crosses. On the only accessible side of
the cliff there is a picturesque wall conserving its primitive
battlements and two rectangular towers. The Collegiate church
from the 16th century was built on the upper part, with its two
outer walls at the edge of the cliff. Its cloister is remarkable,
with capitals from San Juan de la Peña school. The castle
and the Collegiate church have been declared National Monuments.
Around the town there is a charming Pyrenean landscape. Excursions
can be made on foot along the course of the river Vero.
DAROCA
98 km. from Zaragoza. It is an enormous fortified ensemble surrounded
by walls built between the 13th and the 16th centuries and almost
completely conserved. Two defensive doors are remarkable: the
lower door, remodelled in the 16th century and having two quadrangular
towers; and the upper door, transformed in the 17th century. These
doors are located in the two main entrances to the city. Besides,
there are other doors, like the Valencia door or the Mudejar door
of San Martín de Parra.
VALDERROBLES
193 km. from Teruel, it is one of the loveliest and most authentic
urban ensembles in Aragón, with its typical streets and
part of its walls, and, on the top of a hill, the castle and the
archpriestal church, forming one of the most beautiful ensembles
of purist Gothic in Aragón.
ALBARRACIN
36 km. from Teruel. It is a picturesque town, declared National
Monument. Its Medieval lay-out has been conserved almost intact
in a landscape of cliffs and the steep meander of the river Guadalaviar.
The oldest part of the town gathered around the noble castle,
located on a high rock. On this rock lies the Military Residence
of the Lords of Albarracín, Muslim first, and Christian
afterwards. At its foot were the cathedral (Historic-Artistic
Monument) and the episcopal palace. The church of Santa María
(16th C.) is located towards the closest end of the gorge. The
ruins of the Muslim castle lie overshadowed by the spectacular
curtain of walls climbing up the hill. In other two mountains
two more castles were built: Andador Castle, of which a tower
has been conserved and Muela Castle, of which there are no traces.
Aragon maps