Monasterio de Piedra

Monasterio de Piedra (Monastery of [the River] Piedra) is a monastery, hotel and park complex in the Iberian System area, near Nuévalos, province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain. The monastery was founded in 1194 by Alfonso II of Aragon wiht thirteen Cistercian monks from Poblet Monastery, in an old castle next to the Piedra river, and was dedicated to St. Mary the Fair (Santa María la Blanca). The entire complex has been declared a national monument.

History

El Monasterio de Nuestra Señora de Piedra it sounds like that "The Monastery of Our Lady of Stone" and also "Stone's Monastery" but, it refers mostly to the Piedra (Stone) river. is undoubtedly one of the most visited places in Aragon, especially the numerous gardens and waterfalls created by the river in the Piedra Canyon that 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 origin dates back to 1194, when Alfonso II the Chaste and his wife Doña Sancha donated an old Moorish castle to the monks of Poblet to build a monastery and establish the Christian faith in the area.

The Monasterio de Piedra is in a mountain region at 730 m over level sea, in the "Cordillera Iberica". The traditional access road to the monastery, following the Piedra river started from Nuevalos village. In the old path are the masonry ruins of a watermill or wheel. This beautiful spot is usually sought by the Cistercians as inspiration to develop their work and prayer work. The Monasterio de Piedra was founded by Alfonso II in 1164 with monks from Poblet and started his work in 1195 to be completed in 1218.

In the confluence of the Rivers Ortiz and Piedra, in a land of thermal springs, as Alhama and Jaraba. The Islam sought to establish their city on the banks of rivers, because its economy was based on agriculture, emphasizing the cultivation of irrigated land. This is why people discarded in height and thus not effectively occupied areas of the Pyrenees, where merely controlling traffic of people and goods through fortified steps at the entrance to the valleys. Is this the reason that the noble and Christian clergy, who were those who had most to lose to the arrival of Islam, to settle in the north, where they began to organize churches and monasteries around which the Christian communities would be developed.

Muslims occupied the existing cities from the Roman Empire and Visigothic civilization, restoring to a new splendor. This was the case of Huesca, Tarazona, Calahorra and, of course, Zaragoza. In other cases, start-ups founded cities, which are Tudela, Calatayud, Daroca or Barbastro. This is the case of the region of Calatayud, which currently belongs Nuevalos and the Monasterio de Piedra. the area had a big Muslim population which resisted several times after the Christian reconquest, attempts of cultural assimilation. The monasteries they served, among other things, as centers of evangelization and colonization.

The monastery was constructed how a defensive strength with a web of minor fortress in an area heavily populated by Muslims. From the muslim era, there are abundant irrigation systems, canals, ditches, castles. In 1201, pope Innocent III issued a 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 bull confirming all former possessions. During the reign of Pedro IV the differences between monks and residents in 1335 caused the king to receive under his tutelage the Monasterio de Piedra with their vassals. Subsequently, were the pontiffs who would grant protection. The monks had several altercations among others related to the passage of merchant caravan of mules, the exploitation of the salt today in the municipality of Nuevalos, water use in the villages of the region, dominion over the villages, tithe, etc.

Excerpts from Archivo Historico Nacional in Spain in Aragonese language ; and correspond to a sentence of the second half of the century XIII (between 1.260 and 1.265)

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 name except for Calatayud which appears as "Calataiub" the village now called LLumes is named "Flumes" from Flumen, river in latin language. The municipalities correspond with the current, the limite between Monterde and Llumes is yet the road from Cubel to the Monastery, which is the current limit of the Parish of San Miguel.

"Asignamos por termino al monasterio de Piedra, entre el monasterio e los de Nuevalos, conviene a saber: De somo de la loma en el hiermo, que es sobre el monasterio e decende por el Val de Adam, a somo de la defesa del concello de Nuevalos. E de la otra parte, del poþo de Amunna e al somo de Cannada Cremada, assí quomo las aguas vierten en tal monasterio a, e assi como va al somo de Cannada Mediana..."

"Asignamos por termino al monasterio, entrel monasterio e los de Ibdes, conviene saber: De Cannada Mediana avandita, entro a las vacarizas, e assi como va a la pieça de Val de Cavallo, e de Val de Cavallo assi quomo va al Villar de Val de Tajas. E assi como va otro a la Penna Crebrada, loma a loma en derecho, assi como las aguas vierten en tal monasterio..."

"Asignamos por termino al dito monasterio entrel monasterio e los de Flumes conviene a saber: De la dita Penna Crebrada, assí quomo va loma a loma tro a en dreito al Algadil de la Muerta, e dent assí quomo va loma a loma quomo las aguas vierten enta los Algadiles, e entro al semo de los molinos de Valdenogueras, que son de los monges, e assí quomo va por el fondon del malluelo que planto Xemen Perez entro al somo de Val de Armesan, e assí quomo va por el cerro quomo las aguas vierten de cada part enta los molinos de Val de Nogueras e en tal monasterio, e daquel cerro así quomo va omme entro aquel logar, do se parten las carreras, la una enta Flumes, e la otra enta Cubel e desdent assí quomo poya al somo de la Loma Luenga..."

"Asignamos por termino al monasterio, entrel monasterio e los de Monterde conviene a saber: Del somo de la Loma Luenga avandita assí como decenden el barranquo so la fonteziella, e assí como va a Val de Savuquiello, sobre las pieþas de las Canales del monasterio, e sale del colladiello que íxe al campo, e desí loma a loma quomo las aguas vierten enta las vinnas de Ortix de los monges, e assí quomo va al querno de la lomiella de la foneziella entro al val de las Sargas, e sobrel villar de Ortix por el cabeço. E assí como va a las eruelas de Ortix, loma a loma, e assí como íxe omme a la carrera de Calataiub, en fondon de la questa del monasterio...".

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Entrance through the walls was gained through the medieval keep. The church opened onto the cloister, noted for its great arches, and the various premises of the monastery. The chapter house (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 old abbatial residence support the current Neoclassical one, constructed in the 18th century. Front of the keep or Middle Ages fortified tower, there are several ancient stone parideras transformed in hotels, their corrals are landscaped. The parideras are abound throughout the region due to extreme weather.

The monastery was closed down in 1835 during Isabella II of Spain's rule as a consequence of the Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizábal. The Desamortización caused the exclaustration of the place, brought monastic life to an end and the main church was destroyed.^[2] 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 the tax reform. Mendizabal, in the preamble, setting out other basic objectives of the seizure: clean up the Hacienda reducing debt, getting 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 abandoned, In 1840 Pablo Muntadas Campeny a Catalonian wealthy merchant, surprised by the cool environment in this dry remote rural area bought the monastery, maintaining farming and livestock in the place.

His son, Juan Federico Muntadas, will shape the park by making changes, paths and walkways and planting. closest to the circuit of the spanish nineteenth century spas, and aware of the responsibility of conserving the landscape and the precarious state of the monastery, bought the abandoned monastery and its surroundings and tries several viable businesses. These include a spa, a hotel and a salmon farm. In 1860, after discovering the cave Iris, it was opened to the public. In 1867 he created the first fish farm in Spain, naturalized in the waters of the Piedra River brown trout and iberian crayfish. Subsequently, in 1886 the Fisheries Centre of the Monasterio de Piedra was ceded to the Spanish Government. The center continues to have today to Aragonese rivers of species for reforestation. The result of these activities is the garden that we know today, which in 1940 was declared "Paraje Pintoresco Nacional".

Don Juan Federico Muntadas, founder and architect of the park, naturalized in the river Piedra several salmonid species. He explored the existing caves, cleaned and opened a path and brought beautiful tree species bearing a spa to condition at the use of medicinal waters spas of the era.

The church has three naves and transept is very spoiled, especially the vaults completely falls following the abandonment bound by the confiscation. At the Monasterio de Piedra is accessed by a medieval wall that stands the medieval watchtower. The monastery’s construction progressed in three architectural stages: Gothic (13th century), Renaissance Gothic (16th century) and Classical-Baroque (18th century).

Are important parts of the head as the five apses, with a semicircular central. The western gate is well preserved despite the shabby facade. He looks late Romanesque and pointed arches and teeth of a saw, much like other Cistercian monasteries. An eye doctor who has lost crowns the original tracery.

The faculty is decidedly Gothic vaults and arches of great simplicity. The Chapter of the Monasterio de Piedra is probably the most valuable, especially after its exemplary restoration that has returned all its glory. It has a square. The vaults are ribbed pillars fasciculate with multiple columns in the center (with traces of original paint) and supports the walls in the form of brackets. It is also dramatically communication with the faculty room with double lancet arches and pointed eyepiece hexalobulados multitude of elegant columns with vegetable-based "crochets." Not fail to see other units preserved as the monks kitchen, the refectory and the Cilla.

Park

Sometimes, due to the spectacular scenery, the occasional tourist is not paid due attention to the monastic complex, than partially ruined, offers pleasant surprises to the lover of medieval art. The Piedra river canyon in the vicinity of the monastery is a place of extreme natural beauty: natural karstic caves and manmade gallerys connecting grotto, a lush, garden-like environment of waterfalls, lagoons, tiny ferns, mosses and rivulets in the midst of an arid wilderness. A stone canyon wetland with thick mediterranean river woods with the scent of mint, along with the sound of water and the singing of birds and the many species of damselflies. Endemic fish species like trout, madrilla and the endangered Barbo atruchado. A marked and fenced path winds its way through the course of the canyon, with overlooks of several waterfalls; the longest and most notable of these is the "Horsetail" (Cola del Caballo), at more than fifty meters high. These waterfalls are formed by the precipitation of dissolved limestone that occurs when the decreasing river level exposes rocks to sunshine; this results in water evaporation and deposits the limestone in successive layers through which the water runs, forming countless rivulets. Minor fluctuations in the river's own flow have resulted in the Karst topography of the region.

Along the way, the River Piedra around a mountain known as " El Espolón" (The Ram). In 1959 was created "el embalse de La Tranquera" a water reservoir that flooded a part of the rivers canyons and channels. The reservoir flooded also the best farmland and several villages in its construction, and when the water level down are even the roofs of some houses. The swamp water is used for domestic water supply, irrigation and electrical energy production. And around it we can find hotels, restaurants and a campsite, and has become a pleasant place for fishing and water sports.

The flora of the area dominated by oak, pine, holm and coscojales (quercus coccifera) and among the clear sunny thickets are lavender (Lavandula stoechas). There are cultivated almond trees, vines, in the more dry and sunny places and cherry trees in the cooler. If you go up the different ranges, from the 800 meters coscoja disappears, and increases the forest vegetation. Also important are the pines around, thanks to afforestation which have been rushing throughout the twentieth century. Pine species predominate resinero (pinus pinaster) and Corsican pine (pinus nigra corsicana), but lower in areas where the oaks were once abundant, is easy to find, at present, the Aleppo pine (pinus halepensis), Walnut, horse chestnut, ash, acer, laurel, american cupressaceae... planted by man. In the lagoons and near to watercourse grow various willows, belfry, reed, (Phragmites australis, Typha angustifoli), Imperata cilindrica, Juncus articulatus, Juncus inflexus, Iris pseudacorus, poplar, tamarisk, plum feral, cherry feral, alamo... surrounded by vines Clematis vitalba, feral vines vitis vinifera, and ivy (Hedera helix), wild roses and wild broom (Osyris alba). The tangled hedges forming large brambles (Rubus caesius) and blackberry (Rubus ulmifolius)....

As for the fauna consists of foxes, Beech Marten, wild boars, hares and rabbits. Other noteworthy species are deer, badgers and genets, although the number of copies is limited. And in addition to mammals, many birds can be found among which, above all, the colonies of vultures, but are not the only predators in the area. There are also copies of golden eagle, peregrine falcon, hawk, kestrel, owl, scops owl and other species. Almost every species of european thrush and the ringdove are presents with influence in the vegetal regeneration with plants with seeds dispersed by birds like Celtis australis, Cynachum acutum or solanum dulcamara. Another important group is the waterfowl, as in the Gallocanta Lagoon and the Marsh "La Tranquera", both in the region of Calatayud, live or hibernate, among other species, mallards, ducks spoon, pochard, coots , teal, herons and cormorants. But you can also find plenty of partridges, quail, doves, larks, nerds, robins, finches or charcoal, to name a few. Finally, it is difficult to find different species of amphibians and reptiles such as frogs, painted frog, newts, lizards, lizard and various kinds of snakes. The most common fish are trout, catfish and madrilla. Carp and rainbow trout have been introduced in some areas for sport. Invertebrates abundant are Procambarus clarkii, Tarantula and other spiders, butterflies, Brachycera flies, damselflies and dragonflies.

Images

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  The Lago del Espejo (Mirror Lake) in Monasterio de Piedra's park

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  One of the many divided waterfalls in the park.

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  Ruins of the monastery's main church

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  Laguna aintzira

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  Cola de Caballo («zaldi buztana»)

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  Piedra river

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  Cloister of the Monasterio de Piedra

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  Waterfall Chorrera del Piedra

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  General view of Nuévalos, vista from the Piedra river mouth in the "la Tranquera" marsh, in the province of Zaragoza

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  Ponytail's cavern.

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  Middle Age Livestock Shelter or Paridera in a Natural Cave in Piedra River in the monk's old path from the monastery to the roe deer salt ponds, Aragon, Spain

References

1. ^ http://asociacionpiedra.com/Llumes%20web/ahn.htm
2. ^ El Mundo, MONASTERIO DE PIEDRA. Un caprichoso fluir

This article incorporates information from this version of the equivalent article on the Spanish Wikipedia.

External links

• Monasterio de Piedra
• Parque Natural del Monasterio de Piedra
• http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special%3ASearch&search=monasterio+piedra