TO SEE INTERACTIVE MAP OF THE CASTLES

Access in alphabetical order: Abizanda Adahuesca-Los Santos Ainsa Alquezar Arcusa Ayerbe Azara Azlor Bastarás-Castillo de Marmañana Biel Castejón de Monegros Chiriveta-Mongay Clamosa Boltaña Embid de Ariza Escanilla Falcés Fantova Hospitaled-Espluguiello La Puebla de Castro Loarre Luzás Luesia Marcuello Monesma de Benabarre Monreal de Ariza Montañana Montearagón Morcat Morillo de Monclús Muro de Roda Obano Pano Perarrua Rodellar Ruesta Samitier Santolaria Sibirana Torreciudad Troncedo Viacamp

Located of EAST to the west; in the border between Navarros and Catalanes and occupying one it narrows strip in spurs of the inner mountain ranges; like scanning the plain earth occupied by the unbelieving; a series of castles and romanesques fortifications have arrived to the present time to notify of their past. (SEE INTERACTIVE MAP)

Surely that they were more. But the time, the wars, and the uncultivation; mainly the uncultivation, has caused the loss of a good part of such.

Still it is arrived on time to save some of them. At others, like the one of Montañana, the consolidation no longer arrived to him on time. Hardly it is left a small fragment still on of his northeast circumference; when in recent photographies it almost held half of his perimeter.

In Aragón, the circumstance occurred to concur in space and time the conquest of the land of the kingdom and the arrival of a religious-cultural current from Cluny, made specific in the change of the Mozarabic rite by the roman one, in the ideological thing and the blossoming of the Romanesque art in the material.

(Monastery of San Juán de la Peña: According to Pinatenses Chronicles, it was tuesday 22 of March of 1071. The third hour was last mozarabic one; and Sixth, the first in roman rite. It was second week of Lent, with the King and the Court in the Monastery, as it used to accustom now.)

It caused the constructive impulse and of consolidation of a good group of the ensambles religious-military.

Not in vain, the first king of the dynasty of the Ramirez (Sancho) was skilful in combining sword and cross; religious and military service. The subordination of its rising kingdom to the factual power of the Church, was worth consideration and support to him of the rest of the Christian governors of the moment.

As far as the chronology of the castles; it is a controverted subject.

I think that a reasonable hypothesis is the formulated one by Esteban Lorente, Galtier Martí and García Guatas in the precious work: "El nacimiento del arte románico en Aragón", (1982).

This work has initiated us to many in the taste by the Romanesque Art and our roots. It is without a doubt bedside book in this matter.

According to these authors, castles with "birth game", are: FANTOVA (1015), FALCÉS (1063), a TOWER OF ALQUEZAR (1067), AYERBE (1083) and LUNA (1093).

Relying on it and the formal study of the constructive styles, they classify the fortifications in:

A- WORK OF ART LOMBARDO MASTERS.

FANTOVA: concluded in 1015, already mentioned in texts like "parietes altas". One thinks that their masters were the lombard Apo and Guafrido.

LOARRE: built by Sancho the Greater between 1015 and 1023, taking advantage of the time Muslim weakness.

ABIZANDA: erected on the Arab base of the one of Abinyuyas towards 1023 to attack the river basin of the Isábena.

BOLTAÑA: part of its work must to lombardo masters towards 1017; and extended years later.

B- CONSTRUCTIONS OF LOCAL MASTERS: 1015 - 1040.

MONTAÑANA: In 1023, Ramon III of Pallars reinforced Montañana, and probably he erected it.

PERARRÚA: it is mentioned as of 1017

TRONCEDO: it is mentioned in 1035

SAMITIER: The documentation begins in 1062. The beginning of crypta of its church, is lombardo.

C- FORTIFICATIONS OF RAMIRO I, CARRIED OUT BY LOCAL MASTERS WITH ART LOMBARDO CULTURE: 1045 - 1060.

BOLTAÑA

AÍNSA

ARCUSA

PANO (Precinct)

MARCUELLO (Low part)

D-FORTIFICATIONS CONSTRUCTED IN CONQUERED LANDS IN 1061.

FALCÉS: Commanded to construct in 1063 by Ramiro I to Agila, of Falcés.

VIACAMP: retort of Fantova

LUZÁS: Probably it was inspired by Abizanda. The other towers are cylindrical.

TORRECIUDAD

PANO (tower)

MONGAY

ALQUEZAR: before 1067, abbot Banzo de Fanlo, constructs a tower, probably the flanking one.

E-FORTIFICATIONS OF SANCHO RAMIREZ 1070 - 1090

SIBIRANA: It is mentioned already in 1063; but the inscription of the church is of MCX. The towers are similar to those of Luesia and Biel.

MARCUELLO

BIEL

LUESIA

AYERBE

CASTRO

OBANO

BIOTA

LUNA

They have in common being constructed in stone to sillar worked single to puncheon.

Biel was given in dowry to its wife Felicia de Roucy, and is possible that along with their wife and the relations with Central Europe, arrived constructors who worked surely and rapidity the stone to sillar; making possible later Romanesque works.

The scaffold in the superior zone of the towers was characteristic common of the same ones. Their putlog holes in Obano are appraised perfectly. It is not but copy of magnificent caldalso de Abizanda and the existing ones in some French towers."

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