Roda de Isábena

Roda de Isábena is a village in the municipality of Isábena, in the region of Ribagorza, in the province of Huesca, Spain.

It was the capital of the county of Ribagorza and holy see, reason why the romanic Cathedral of Roda was built between the eleventh and twelfth century.

Located near the Isábena river, the county of Ribagorza was one of the founders of the Kingdom of Aragon.

The village of Roda rises over a mountain which dominates the access to the valley of Isábena. During the tenth century it was a fortified village which served as a vigilance point between the Taifa of Saragossa and the county of Ribagorza, which would ulterly become part of the Kingdom of Aragon.

About the middle of the tenth century, Roda de Isábena became an episcopal see, and the political capital of the county of Ribagorza. The removal of the see to Lerida, and then to the diocese of Barbastro-Monzón reduced the importance of the locality. The Spanish "desamortización" (a long historical process in which "unused" territories, generally owned by the Church, where publicly auctioned) and the looting by Erik the Belgian despoiled it of some of its rich cultural heritage.

Nevertheless, Roda, with its Cathedral of San Vicente de Roda de Isábena preserves the vestiges of its rich past. Nowadays, Roda presumes of being the smallest Spanish village with a cathedral.