
Monasterio de Piedra (Stone Monastery) is a
monastery, hotel and park complex in the
Iberian System mountain ranges, near
Nuévalos,
province of Zaragoza,
Aragon
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...
,
Spain. The monastery was founded in 1194 by
Alfonso II of Aragon
Alfonso II (1–25 March 1157Benito Vicente de Cuéllar (1995)«Los "condes-reyes" de Barcelona y la "adquisición" del reino de Aragón por la dinastía bellónida» p. 630-631; in ''Hidalguía''. XLIII (252) pp. 619–632."Alfonso II el Casto, hi ...
, with thirteen
Cistercian
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
monks from
Poblet Monastery, in an old castle next to the
Piedra River, and was dedicated to St. Mary the White (''Santa María la Blanca''). On February 16, 1983, the entire complex was declared a national monument.
History
The ''Monasterio de Nuestra Señora de Piedra'' (Monastery of our Lady of Stone) is located besides the Piedra (Stone) River. It is undoubtedly one of the most visited places in Aragon because of the many gardens and waterfalls created by the river located in the Piedra (Stone) Canyon. This attraction has become a place of rest and recreation for tourists.
The Monasterio de Piedra is in one of the most barren areas of Spain. Its origins date back to 1194, when Alfonso II of Aragon, and his wife Doña Sancha donated an old Moorish castle to the monks of Poblet to build a monastery and to establish the Christian faith in the area.
The Monasterio de Piedra is in a mountainous region, at around 736 m above sea level in the
Iberian System. The traditional access road to the monastery follows the Piedra River, starting from the Nuevalos village. Along the old path are the masonry ruins of a watermill or
wheel
A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction wi ...
. This beautiful spot is often used by the Cistercians as inspiration for their work and prayer. The Monasterio de Piedra was founded by Alfonso II in 1194 with monks from Poblet. The work started in 1195 and was completed in 1219.
The monastery lies in the confluence of the Ortiz and Piedra Rivers, in a land of thermal springs, such as Alhama and Jaraba. Followers of
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
sought to establish their cities on the rivers banks because their economy was based on agriculture, which was performed through laboring irrigated lands. This is why they chose to live on low lands and did not effectively occupy the higher areas of the Pyrenees, where they merely controlled the traffic of people and goods through fortified steps at the entrance of the valleys. This is also the reason why the noble and Christian clergy, who would be the most likely to suffer because of the arrival of Islam, had to settle on the northern regions of the Iberian Peninsula, where they began to set up churches and monasteries that would sustain those early Christian communities.
Muslims occupied the existing cities from the Roman Empire and Visigothic civilization, restoring them to a new splendor. This was the case of
Huesca,
Tarazona,
Calahorra and, of course,
Zaragoza. In other cases, they founded new cities, such as
Tudela Tudela may refer to:
*Tudela, Navarre, a town and municipality in northern Spain
** Benjamin of Tudela Medieval Jewish traveller
** William of Tudela, Medieval troubadour who wrote the first part of the ''Song of the Albigensian Crusade''
** Battl ...
,
Calatayud,
Daroca and
Barbastro. This is the case of the Calatayud region, which currently belongs Nuevalos and the Monasterio de Piedra. The area had a large Muslim population which successfully resisted the Christian reconquest several times, as well as attempts of cultural assimilation. The monasteries served, among other things, as centers of evangelization and colonization.
The monastery was constructed for defensive strength, with a web of minor fortresses, in an area heavily populated by Muslims. Since the Muslim era, there were abundant irrigation systems, canals, ditches and castles. In 1201,
Pope Innocent III issued a papal bull for D. Arnold, successor to the first abbot, confirming possession of property owned by the monastery on its own terms. In 1212 Pope Innocent III issued a papal bull confirming all former possessions. During the reign of Pedro IV the differences between monks and residents in 1335 caused the king to receive the Stone Monastery with their vassals under his tutelage. Subsequently, the pontiffs were granted protection. The monks made several altercations, among which were the passage of merchant caravans of mules, the exploitation of the salt in the municipality of Nuevalos, water use in the villages of the region, dominion over the villages, tithe, etc.
Excerpts from the
Archivo Historico Nacional
The National Historical Archive of Spain (''Archivo Histórico Nacional'') is based in Serrano Street in Madrid.
It was founded in the nineteenth century when it shared a building with the Real Academía de la Historia.
The collections of the A ...
in Spain in the
Aragonese language correspond to a sentence of the second half of the 13th century (between 1260 and 1265). We can see among other things: the origin of the term "pieça", (piece, part), which currently holds in Llumes village to designate the farms, but is lost in the rest of Aragon; the references to localities are under its current names except for Calatayud which appears as "Calataiub". The village now called Llumes is named "Flumes" from Flumen, or "river" in Latin. The municipalities correspond with the current ones, the limit between Monterde and Llumes is still the road from Cubel to the Monastery, which is the current limit of the Parish of San Miguel.
One had to cross the medieval
keep
A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...
to gain entrance through the walls The church opened into the
cloister, noted for its great arches, and the various premises of the monastery. The
chapter house
A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room that is part of a cathedral, monastery or collegiate church in which meetings are held. When attached to a cathedral, the cathedral chapter meets there. In monasteries, the whole communi ...
(from the early 12th century) was the vital center of monastic life; the monks resided in the main building built in the 17th century. The
Romanesque columns of the former abbot's residence support the current
Neoclassical one, constructed in the 18th century. In front of the
keep
A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...
are several ancient stones
lambing enclosures transformed into hotel rooms, with their corrals landscaped.
The monastery was closed down in 1835 during
Isabella II of Spain's rule due to the
Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizábal. The ''Desamortización,'' or secularization, of the place brought monastic life to an end and the main church was destroyed.
[El Mundo]
MONASTERIO DE PIEDRA. Un caprichoso fluir
/ref> The main building has been converted today into a quiet hotel.
In February 1836, the Mendizabal Confiscation Ecclesiastical Act declared the sale of all property belonging to the regular clergy, and the proceeds were intended to amortize the debt. The decree was part of a program that sought to win the Carlist Civil War to raise funds and troops to restore confidence in the credit of the State and in the long term, allow for tax reform. Mendizabal, in the preamble, set out other basic objectives of the seizure: clean up the Hacienda and reduce debt, get access to the property of bourgeois sectors, which would improve production and revalue, and create a new social sector related to the system owners and to the side of Queen Cristina.
Since it was abandoned in 1840, Pablo Muntadas Campeny, a Catalan wealthy merchant, bought the monastery, maintaining farming and livestock in the place. He was surprised by the cool environment in this dry remote rural area.
His son, Juan Federico Muntadas, shaped the park by making changes to paths and walkways and planting. Closest to the circuit of the 19th-century Spanish spas, and aware of the responsibility of conserving the landscape and the precarious state of the monastery, Campeny bought the abandoned monastery and its surroundings, and tried several viable businesses. These include a spa, a hotel and a salmon farm. In 1860, after discovering the Iris cave, it was opened to the public. In 1867, he created the first fish farm in Spain, and naturalized brown trout and Iberian crayfish in the waters of the Piedra River. Subsequently, in 1886, the Fisheries Centre of the Monasterio de Piedra was ceded to the Spanish Government. The center continues today to have rivers full of species for reforestation. The result of these activities is the garden that we know today was declared "Paraje Pintoresco Nacional" in 1940.
Don Juan Federico Muntadas, founder and architect of the park, naturalized several salmonid species in the Piedra River. He explored the existing caves, cleaned and opened a path, and brought beautiful tree species, bearing a spa to the condition and use of medicinal waters spas of the era.
The church has three naves and its transept is very spoiled, especially the vaults, which fell completely following the abandonment bound by the confiscation. The Monasterio de Piedra is accessed by a medieval wall that stands as the medieval watchtower. The monastery's construction progressed in three architectural stages: Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
(13th century), Renaissance Gothic
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...
(16th century) and Classical-Baroque (18th century).
The five apses with the semicircular central are important parts of the head. The western gate is well preserved, despite the shabby facade. It has the looks of a late Romanesque style, with pointed arches and teeth of a saw, much like other Cistercian monasteries.
The faculty is decidedly Gothic, with vaults and arches of great simplicity. The Chapter of the Monasterio de Piedra is probably very valuable, especially after its exemplary restoration that has returned all its glory.
It has a square. The vaults are ribbed pillars with multiple columns in the center (with traces of original paint) and supports the walls in the form of brackets. It is also has a dramatic faculty room with double lancet arches and pointed eyepiece multitude of elegant columns with vegetable-based "crochets."
Other preserved units that one should not fail to see are the monks kitchen, the refectory and the Cilla.
Park
The monastery is located near the Piedra River Canyon, home to many species of birds, damselflies, trout, and endangered fish like the South-west European nase
The South-west European nase (''Parachondrostoma toxostoma'') is a species of cyprinid fish that is found in France and Spain. Its natural habitats are rivers and water storage areas.
It is threatened by habitat loss
Habitat destruction (a ...
and an endangered species of barbel. The canyon itself includes a network of mossy, garden-like caves (natural and man-made), waterfalls and lagoons that contrast with the otherwise dry hills of southern Aragon
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...
. The tallest waterfall is "Horsetail" (''Cola del Caballo''), more than fifty meters high. The dissolution and precipitation of local limestone has created numerous rivulets, springs, and Karst topography
Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...
. The Piedra River meanders around a mountain known as "El Espolón" (The Ram). In 1959, a dam was constructed across the river, which created the 1300 acre La Tranquera Reservoir, flooding part of the canyon, some of the best local farmland, and several villages. The roofs of some drowned houses can still be seen when the water levels are down. The reservoir provides domestic water supply, irrigation and electrical energy. The region is a popular tourist destination for hiking, camping, and water sports.
The native flora of the area includes oak, pine, holm and kermes oak, interspersed with meadows of lavender ( Lavandula stoechas). There are cultivated almond trees, grape vines, and cherry trees. At elevations above 800 meters, the scrub oaks give way to forest vegetation, including maritime and Corsican pines, which have been cultivated throughout the 20th century. At lower elevations, there are also cultivated Aleppo pine ( Pinus halepensis), walnut, horse chestnut, ash, maple, laurel, and cypress trees. Near the water there is a diverse flora, including willows, belfry, reeds (''Phragmites australis'', ''Typha angustifoli'', ''Juncus articulatus'', ''Juncus inflexus''), grasses (''Imperata cylindrica''), yellow iris, poplar, tamarisk, plum feral, cherry feral, elms, vines ( Clematis vitalba, Vitis vinifera, and ivy), wild roses, wild broom (Osyris alba), dewberries and blackberries.
Many mammals live in the park, including fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelv ...
es, beech marten, wild boars, rabbits, deer, badgers and genets, though not in large numbers. Bird species include colonies of vultures, golden eagles, peregrine falcon
The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (Bird of prey, raptor) in the family (biology), family Falco ...
s, hawk
Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica.
* The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. Th ...
s, kestrels, owls - especially Scops owls, partridges, quail, doves, larks, robins, and finches. Several European thrush
''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a secret ...
species and the barbary dove are numerous enough to influence the dispersal of plants like ''Celtis australis
''Celtis australis'', the European nettle tree, Mediterranean hackberry, lote tree, or honeyberry, is a deciduous tree native to Southern Europe, North Africa, and Asia Minor. The tree was introduced to England in 1796.Hillier Nurseries Ltd. (19 ...
'', ''Cynanchum acutum'', and bittersweet nightshade. The Tranquera Reservoir and Gallocanta Lagoon create marsh land, which are home to mallards, ducks, pochard, coots, teal, herons and cormorants. Frogs, painted frog, newts, lizards, and various kinds of snakes can be found here as well. The most common fish are trout, catfish and nase, and some areas are stocked with carp and rainbow trout. Local invertebrates include the crayfish '' Procambarus clarkii'', tarantulas and other spiders, butterflies, ''Brachycera'' flies, damselflies and dragonflies.
See also
*
References
External links
Monasterio de Piedra
Parque Natural del Monasterio de Piedra
{{Authority control
Piedra
Piedra
Piedra
Parks in Spain
Buildings and structures in the Province of Zaragoza
Sistema Ibérico
1194 establishments in Europe
Religious organizations established in the 1190s
Piedra
Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in the Province of Zaragoza
12th-century establishments in Aragon