Logbook · 8 places

What to see and do in Sos del Rey Católico

What to see and do in Sos del Rey Católico (Cinco Villas, Zaragoza): 8 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 3 Monuments · 2 Activities · 2 Historical milestones

How far each place is from the centre of Sos del Rey Católico

Castle of Sos del Rey Católico 50 m
Palace of Sada 300 m

Towns near Sos del Rey Católico

What to see in Navardún 6 km · 2 places
What to see in Urriés 7.5 km · 2 places
What to see in Sangüesa/Zangoza 8.1 km · 21 places
What to see in Undués de Lerda 8.5 km · 3 places
What to see in Petilla de Aragón 9.9 km · 6 places
What to see in Javier 10 km · 6 places
What to see in Cáseda 12 km · 7 places
What to see in Isuerre 13 km · 2 places

Spain › Aragon › Zaragoza › Cinco Villas › Sos del Rey Católico

What to see and do in Sos del Rey Católico

Sos del Rey Católico
Village
Sos del Rey Católico is a town in the Aragonese comarca of the Cinco Villas, in the north-west of the province of Zaragoza, raised on a rocky outcrop which made it for centuries a frontier stronghold. It was in this place, then called simply Sos, that Ferdinand the Catholic was born in 1452, an event that gave rise to the town's present name. It has 582 inhabitants. Its historic quarter, declared a historic-artistic ensemble and a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) in 1968, preserves walls, churches, the plaza de la Villa and the Palace of the Sada, where the king was born. The ensemble is dominated by the castle of the Peña Felizana, whose Keep, from the 12th century, is the best-preserved vestige of the old fortress.
Palace of Sada
Monument
The Palace of the Sada stands at the top of Sos del Rey Católico, in the province of Zaragoza, and owes its fame to being the birthplace of Ferdinand the Catholic, son of Juan II of Aragon and Juana Enríquez. It belonged to the Sada family until the mid-19th century and is one of the finest examples of civil architecture in the town for its sobriety: the oldest rooms date from the 13th century, and until the late 16th century rooms kept being added until the present layout was completed. The façade, of 16th-century ashlar, has a round-arched doorway with the coat of arms of the Sada and is topped with battlements; inside, a broad hall with a wooden ceiling leads to the bedchamber where Ferdinand the Catholic was born, next to what was the church of San Martín de Tours.
Castle of Sos del Rey Católico
Monument
The castle of Sos del Rey Católico, also known as the castle of the Peña Felizana, stands at the top of the historic ensemble of this town of the Cinco Villas, in Zaragoza. It preserves the keep, square in plan and about six metres to a side, raised in the 11th century, and a walled enclosure of reduced size completed by Ramiro II, with a circular tower fitted with arrow slits and an access gate with a round arch. The ensemble is today in ruins; excavations carried out on the esplanade have brought to light remains of old rooms and walls. It has been listed as a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) since 2006.
Church of San Esteban de Sos del Rey Católico
Monument
Church with a Romanesque doorway and the baptismal font where Ferdinand the Catholic was baptised. The building, in Gothic style, with ashlar stone walls and vaults, has the peculiarity of standing over another underground temple, the church of the Virgen del Perdón, with a public street running between the two levels. It was declared a historic-artistic monument in 1944 and enjoys the protection of a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection).
Holy Week in the Cinco Villas
Activity
Holy Week in las Cinco Villas is declared of Tourist Interest in Sos del Rey Católico, Ejea de los Caballeros and Tauste. In Sos, on the morning of Holy Thursday twelve locals represent the apostles in the 'Canto de la Pasión', re-enacting the last hours of Jesus through the streets; in Biel the pasos are auctioned before the Santo Entierro procession, and in El Frago the procession of silence crosses the village without anyone speaking.
Festivities of Sos del Rey Católico
Activity
Sos del Rey Católico celebrates its local festivities on 27 May and 26 December, according to the official calendar of Zaragoza; the town is famous as the birthplace of Fernando el Católico (Ferdinand the Catholic) in 1452.
Birth of Fernando the Catholic
Historical milestone
Juana Enríquez gave birth in Sos, in March 1452, to the future Fernando II of Aragon, in the middle of the Navarrese civil war. The birth took place in the palace of Sada and from then on the villa added to its name the epithet del Rey Católico.
Sos, capital of the Cinco Villas
Historical milestone
In 1711 Sos was designated capital of the Cinco Villas, the grouping of villas of the Navarrese frontier that Felipe V distinguished after the War of the Succession. The medieval urban ensemble was declared historic-artistic in 1968 and has hardly been altered.