A tour of Jaca

It doesn’t matter where we start from. This little town of some 12,000 inhabitants has got lots of things to show its visitors and lots of stories to tell, not all of them happy ones.
There are buildings here from the 10th century, a little ruined chapel which was moved from the hillside, 11th century , the cathedral, the 16th century Town hall and the church at the end of the High Street. This street also has some of Jaca’s Art Nouveau (Modernist) buildings from the first decades of the 20th century. You can see when a country has been prosperous by the mix of architectural styles; all over Spain you can find magnificent examples of Modernism.
Jaca was the first capital of the Kingdom of Aragón. We are in the foothills of the Pyrenees, at 820 m altitude. At one time it was the very border of Christendom. As you know, in the 8th century, the Iberian peninsula was almost completely overpowered by the Moors from north Africa. They did not stay in the north very long, although we have some great stories of battles and miracles from the time of the occupation (Sta Orosia, Felix and Voto, Conde Aznar). Every year on the 1st Friday of May the inhabitants of Jaca parade in spectacular costumes to celebrate the defeat of the Moorish troops by local men, women and children.
From this square where the bones of medieval monks lie under the stones, we’ll go past the early 20th century fairy-tale buildings on this pedestrian street; you can just see the walls of the castle over there, another fort on the top of that hill. It was started in 1884 and finished in 1904, in a fantastic position to guard the valley, 1,142 m/sea level. It was used as a prison after the uprising in 1930, and many people were either executed there or taken to fields away from town to shoot them. There are several places in town which have the same grim memories, and some people still living who lost loved ones then. From some places you can see Collarada, which is 2,886 m/sea level. Jaca is 820 m/sl.
The calle Mayor, high street was pedestrianised a few years ago. That makes it easier to look at the curious modernist buildings erected in the second decade of the 20th century, nº 17, 20, 32, 34.
Here is the town hall, an elegant plateresque façade from the 16th century. There is a historic archive with documents dating as far back as 1042. The bells ring every 15 minutes. They play two songs, one which says “Jaca knows how to live in freedom in the shelter of Mount Oroel”, the anthem people sing in the First Friday celebrations, the other the Jota de Jaca, which celebrates the beauty of the area: “ a thousand aromas and sounds which I’ll never forget”.
At the end of the high street we are really going back in time: There is a convent which has been here since 1555, when the nuns escaped from a plague in Santa Cruz de la Serós where the convent was founded in 1060. The brought with them the tomb of doña Sancha daughter of king Ramiro I, who lived in the convent. The tomb is a gem of romanesque sculpture.
Round the corner we find all that’s left of the city walls, the rest of which were demolished in 1915 to allow for the city’s expansion. Nowadays that seems unthinkable, but then they were very happy about it.
Now we’ve got a walk round the bend to see some great views and a new building. 25,000m3, 2 rinks, 1,800 m2 and 900m2 of ice, capacity for 3,000 spectators, the new ice rink was opened to the public in August 2008, although it was used in 2007 for the European Youth Olympics. The old ice rink (1972) is waiting to be demolished. Beyond you can see Monte Oroel, 1,769 m/sea level, which is a symbol of Jaca and place of pilgrimage. You can just see the cross on the top: it’s about 8m high.
That’s the new part of the city. Now we can see the oldest building. It’s a 10th century chapel which was built in the village of Sarsa, out there, and brought here from the abandoned village.
Making our way to the cathedral, we can see the Romanesque tower of the church of St James- Santiago. The building was inaugurated in 1088, and was heavily restored and reformed in the 17th and 19th centuries. It’s built facing the wrong way: the altar is facing west instead of east, in other words facing Santiago de Compostela, the most important place of pilgrimage in western Europe. On the pavements you’ll find brass scallops which mark the Pilgrims’ Way. Compostela is 850 kms away.
The Clock Tower doesn’t have a clock on it. A plain, square 15th century tower, was a palace and later a prison.
Back to the High Street and the Cathedral.
Why are the houses so close to the Cathedral? You can’t get a decent distance away for a good view. In 1836 the Spanish government sold off the monastic lands: it was a particularly secular time, and then they used the land to build houses. Remember, the city limits were still defined by the surrounding walls, so the space was used up.
The cathedral dates from 11th century, ordered by the first king of Aragón, Ramiro, started by his son Sancho Ramírez who founded Jaca. (named for Iacca, the latinisation of the name of indigenous inhabitants). Of course, the building has gone through repairs, reforms and additions in its thousand years of existence.
From here we can cross the road and go to the gates of St Peter’s Castle, usually known as la Ciudadela or citadel. Started in 1595, it’s a star-shaped fortress, with five angled bastions, the most complete in Spain, if not Europe. The castle is still an active barracks under the juristiction of the MoD, and has very limited opening times 11-12, 17-18, but also houses a very impressive exhibition of model soldiers which is well worth seeing.
Although the castle was built in the 16th century the gateway contains a much older building, originally part of a Romanesque chapel. You can imagine that if the castle were under fire, those rather delicate arches would be the first things to go! From the outside we can see that the first line of defence is a great dry moat, now populated by red deer. The interior is low down in the walls. So as not to present an easy target. Fortresses are built to deal with the munitions of the time: when they built the Rapitán fort, up there, centuries later, they had weaponry which could reach an enemy at considerable distance. Look at the bastions: at the base the walls may be as much as 4 m thick, at their highest part, 2.5m.
Why was it built? Jaca is a frontier town. 30 km from the French border, the first significant centre of population. There was a threat from the Hugenots (French protestants), so the King Philip II ordered its construction. There is a statue of him in the castle; the only one in Aragón.
What kinds of weapons did they have? From 40 lb to 5lb cannons, and the pikes and arquebuses on display in the armoury.