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Monastery of San Juan de la Peña

Santa Cruz de la Serós, La Jacetania, Huesca

1 Villages · 2 Monuments · 2 Activities · 1 Historical milestones

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Monastery of San Juan de la Peña

Monument · Santa Cruz de la Serós, La Jacetania, Huesca

The Real Monasterio de San Juan de la Peña, at the foot of the sierra of the same name, was the most important monastery in Aragon in the early Middle Ages and forms part of the Aragonese branch of the Camino de Santiago. Legend places its origin with the nobleman Voto, who, while chasing a stag, fell over a precipice and found, unharmed, a cave with a hermitage dedicated to San Juan Bautista; there he retired together with his brother Félix to live as hermits, and tradition links that cave with the legendary origin of the Kingdom of Aragon. Favoured by the kings of Pamplona and Aragon, it reached its greatest prominence under Sancho Ramírez, when it became a royal pantheon. After two fires, in 1494 and 1675, the Monasterio Nuevo was built on a plateau further up, and the disentailment of 1835 put an end to its monastic life.

Photo: Elemaki (CC BY 3.0)

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