Another wonderful experience in my beloved Spain. Driven by it so many times eventually several years back decided to come in and it has been a stop ever since. Jaca in the heart of Aragon! This is a post done out of other older ones which I combine into one with new text and links for you and me, Of course, plenty more written on Jaca in my blog. The City is in the province of Huesca, and autonomous community of Aragon ,kingdom of Spain Therefore, here is my new take on curiosities of Jaca, part IV !!! Hope you enjoy this post as I.
The Seminario Diocesano or Diocesan Seminary was built during the third decade of the 20C, at an important moment for urban planning in Jaca. The story goes that from 1610 different seminaries followed one another in the city of Jaca, but it was not until 1860 when the old Conciliar Seminary of the Immaculate Conception was officially inaugurated. This building was located on Calle del Carmen and was destroyed by a great fire in May 1924. That same year,a project for the construction of a new seminary, in the western area of the Ensanche, in a place that it allowed the Diocese to acquire large plots of land in a place close to the old city center.
The layout of the Seminario Diocesano is made up of a ground floor and two floors in height. Its façade is divided into three large forward and raised bodies, between which two small transition elements are located, which provide the ensemble with continuity. The entire main façade is articulated on the basis of large openings framed by rectangular section pilasters, which run through the building in height. These openings are culminated by arches of very different making and proportions: lintels, semicircular, edging, panels, lowered and pointed, in mitre or pediment. This compositional alternation manages to give said façade a mobility and variety that contrasts powerfully with the uniformity of materials used in it. The new building was finally inaugurated in February 1926.
Unfortunately now has permanently closed, here for the memories of our visit, In its place is planned a first -class tourist complex that will include a high luxury hotel ,a hospitality school of the highest international level and a check -up clinic with recognition at the forefront of world medical technology. All this is pending approvals and burocratic red tape since 2022,
The city of Jaca on the Seminario Diocesano: https://www.jaca.es/turismo/monumentosymuseos/seminario-diocesano.html
And I continue my journey with the Monasterio de Santa Cruz, with a bit of history I like tell us that in 1555 the nuns of the Monasterio de Santa Cruz de la Serós (Sorores) moved to Jaca, at the behest of king Felipe II, building the monastery commonly called “de las Benitas”. The underground Church of Santa María was known as that of San Salvador and is a room covered with a vault and which was decorated with Romanesque paintings. The Church of San Ginés, was ceded to the nuns by the brotherhood of San Ginés in 1579. Only the Romanesque door remains of its origins, the whole inside it has remained, for 450 years, the best full Romanesque tomb that has been preserved in the Iberian Peninsula. The famous sarcophagus of the Countess Doña Sancha, daughter of King Ramiro I of Aragon, brought to Jaca from Santa Cruz de los Serós in 1622 ; been the best preserve romanesque tomb in Spain , The order of Benitas of sisters were in charge of the place before the reformation of 1730; the ceilings were painted al fresco in 1862.
Currently the sarcophagus has been moved to one of the rooms of the Colegio de las Benedictinas, suitable to create a small museum in which in addition to being able to admire the tomb in all its splendor, it will be accompanied by eight panels of the Romanesque paintings of the Church of San Ginés, which until now were in the monastery’s private oratory and photos of the Renaissance cloister, closed to the public.The tomb is made of stone and on its sides it presents respectively a chrisom and a pair of opposite taps. On the back, chivalrous scenes are represented that look different. On the front is an allegory of the Countess’s soul represented by a naked girl carried by two angels to heaven. Two scenes of the deceased are presented on the sides as seated abbess and in a pontifical ceremony. The Monasterio de Santa Cruz is located at the eastern end of the old town, attached to the only section of the old city wall, demolished at the beginning of the 20C.
The city of Jaca on the Monasterio de Santa Cruz: https://www.jaca.es/turismo/romanico/monasterio-de-santa-cruz-monjas-benedictinas.html
The Jaca tourist office:https://www.turismojacetania.com/oficina_turismo.php
The Huesca Province tourist office on Jaca: https://web.huescalamagia.uk/medieval-villages/i/71790013/jaca
The Aragon region tourist office on Jaca:https://www.turismodearagon.com/en/ficha/jaca/
There you go folks, a wonderful, terrific, no words combination to see in Jaca. There are many others do see my blog ! Again;hope you enjoy this post on the curiosities of Jaca, part IV as I
And remember, happy travels, good health and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 