Logbook · 6 places

What to see and do in Villanueva de Sigena

What to see and do in Villanueva de Sigena (Los Monegros, Huesca): 6 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 2 Monuments · 1 Curiosities · 2 Historical milestones

How far each place is from the centre of Villanueva de Sigena

Royal Monastery of Santa María de Sigena 1.1 km

Towns near Villanueva de Sigena

What to see in Sena 2.9 km · 3 places
What to see in Ontiñena 9.2 km · 6 places
What to see in Castelflorite 9.9 km · 2 places
What to see in Alcolea de Cinca 11 km · 10 places
What to see in Albalatillo 12 km · 2 places
What to see in Albalate de Cinca 13 km · 7 places
What to see in Sariñena 15 km · 12 places
What to see in Chalamera 15 km · 6 places

Spain › Aragon › Huesca › Los Monegros › Villanueva de Sigena

What to see and do in Villanueva de Sigena

Villanueva de Sigena
Village
Villanueva de Sigena is a municipality in Los Monegros, in Huesca, with 340 inhabitants and a municipal area of 146.37 km², known for being home to the Royal Monastery of Santa María de Sigena, one of the great complexes of European Romanesque art, whose main altarpiece was painted by the so-called Master of Sigena. It is also the birthplace of the theologian and scientist Michael Servetus, whose restored family home has housed, since 2002, an interpretation centre and the headquarters of the Miguel Servet Institute of Sigena Studies. According to the geographer Strabo, the territory occupied today by the provinces of Huesca and Lérida was inhabited in antiquity by the Ilergetes.
Royal Monastery of Santa María de Sigena
Monument
A 12th-century monastery situated in Villanueva de Sigena (Huesca), founded by order of Sancha of Castile, queen consort of Alfonso II of Aragon, as a house of Hospitaller nuns of the Order of St John of Jerusalem. The foundation took place on 23 April 1188 with the entry of nuns drawn from royalty and the leading Aragonese lineages, organised into three categories: the cloistered nuns or dueñas, the girls educated in the monastery, and the serving nuns. King Peter II the Catholic, who died excommunicated at the Battle of Muret in 1213, was moved and buried at Sigena in 1217 through the nuns' efforts, turning the monastery into a royal pantheon; among its prioresses was the infanta Blanche, daughter of James II of Aragon. Its chapter house held Romanesque mural paintings of the "1200 style", considered the Sistine Chapel of European Romanesque art.
The Fire of the Sigena Paintings
Curiosity
In August 1936 a fire destroyed part of the monastery's Romanesque paintings; the salvaged fragments are kept today in the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya.
Miguel Servet Interpretation Centre
Monument
The Miguel Servet Interpretation Centre has occupied, since 2002, the restored family home of the scientist and heterodox theologian Miguel Servet in Villanueva de Sigena (Los Monegros, Huesca), his home town. The building is also the headquarters of the Miguel Servet Institute of Sijena Studies.
Royal pantheon of Queen Sancha
Historical milestone
Sancha of Castile, wife of Alfonso II, founded the Hospitaller monastery of Sigena in 1188 and was buried in it in 1208. In 1217 the remains of Pedro II, killed at the battle of Muret, were transferred there, which made it the pantheon of the Aragonese royal house.
Miguel Servet and pulmonary circulation
Historical milestone
Born around 1511 in Villanueva de Sigena, Miguel Servet described the pulmonary circulation of the blood in his work Christianismi Restitutio. His anti-Trinitarian theses earned him condemnation and the stake in Geneva in 1553. His birthplace was restored and can be visited.