By Diego Guinea
Not only are the Aragonese Pyrenees an area of outstanding natural beauty,
as The Lions witness year after year, but it also has a surprisingly rich
artistic heritage. Particularly interesting is its religious architecture in
Pre-Romanesque and -more importantly- Romanesque style, the latter of which
flourished in the region in hand with the birth of the Kingdom of Aragon.
A former Marca Hispanica under the Carolingian protectorate
comprising the area around the river that gave it its name, the County of Aragon was re-populated after its incorporation to the Kingdom of
Pamplona in the early 10th Century. The character of the area was predominantly
rural, and the Roman Catholic Church played a crucial role in the
administration of the County through its churches and monasteries.
In this context, it is
worth mentioning the Pre-Romanesque churches of El Serrablo, a
homogeneous architectural group highly influenced by Mozarabic architecture.
This group comprises around twenty churches in the rural area around the
Gállego River, the prototype of which was the church of San Pedro de Lárrede,
built around 1050.
Other churches in the
region, such as Santa María de
Iguácel, Santa Cruz de la Serós, and San Pedro de Siresa,
are the only remains of a series of monasteries that controlled vast areas of
the County and held an important cultural heritage. For example, The Abbey of
San Pedro de Siresa, constructed in the heart of the Hecho Valley between the
9th and 13th centuries, had a magnificent library that included works of
Greco-Roman tradition that had not been persevered in the Caliphate of Cordoba.
Towards
the end of the 11th Century, the region underwent significant changes as a
result of the thriving emergence of the Kingdom of Aragon. The Old Monastery
of San Juan de la Peña is commonly considered to be the cradle of the
Kingdom or Aragon, having driven the conquest of Jaca and Ainsa. The Monastery
was also the burial place for the Kings and Queens of Aragon and Pamplona
during five hundred years. The Old Monastery comprises two floors, both under
the huge rock that gives it its name and acts as roof to the upper level. The
lower level consists of the Council Chamber and a Mozarabic church, and the
upper level comprises a series of Romanesque constructions, including the
Pantheon of Noblemen, the upper church -consecrated in 1094-, and the cloister
-completed in the 12th Century-, as well as the Gothic chapel of Saint Victorian
and the Neoclassic Royal Pantheon -built in the last third of the 18th Century.
In 1077 Sancho Ramírez,
first King of Aragon, established the first capital of the new Kingdom and the
Episciopal See in the city of Jaca and the construction of the Cathedral of
Jaca begun. It is worth noting that the Cathedral owes part of its
importance and architectural style to its strategic location in the pilgrimage
route that lead to Santiago from remote parts of Europe, along which the new
Romanesque Architecture flourished. The Cathedral of Jaca was constructed
almost concurrently with the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. The current
building preserves its general Romanesque style, with later additions in
Gothic, Italianate and Baroque style.
The capital of the
Kingdom of Aragon and the Episcopal See were moved to Huesca after its conquest
from the Muslims in 1096, but Jaca preserved its importance as a strategic stop
in the Way of Saint James. Today, the Pilgrims continue to enter into the
Cathedral under the Chi Ro in the tympanum of the arch of the main entrance,
which is surrounded by two Lions, symbols of penance. Also today, the other
Lions continue to contribute to the epic History of the Pyrenees.