1st stage: from Somport to Jaca
The Aragonese route starts from Somport
pass, where pilgrims can visit the ruins of the old hospital
of Santa Cristina, built in the 11 C. The Aragonese monarch,
Sancho Ramírez is known to have visited it. The pass
was mentioned in the 5th book of the Códex Calixinus
(12 C) as a halt along the route to Santiago.
Pilgrims leave this beautiful town by the
bridges of Santa Cristina and Ruso, and continue to Los
Arañones and Canfranc, the first Hispanic town on
this branch of the route, founded as far back as the 11
C. This Medieval town, famous for its Modernist railway
station, retains its original layout. Pilgrims leave the
village through a Medieval bridge and head towards Villanúa,
with a 12 C bridge, the church of San Esteban -which contains
beautiful carvings from the 15 C-, the church of San Vicente
(12 C) and a 15 C fortified house. The route crosses Aruej
(a small Romanesque church) and Castiello de Jaca (ruins
of a castle), continues past the hermitage of San Cristóbal,
and then leads to Jaca, the final stop of the 1st stage
of the Aragonese route.
This important town was the kingdom of Aragon´s
first capital city from 1035 to 1096, after being conquered
by the Romans. Formerly, the town had five parish churches,
two hospitals and a cathedral. This, Spain´s oldest
Romanesque cathedral, can still be visited, together with
the Monastery of the Benedictines, which treasures the Romanesque
sepulchre of the infanta Doña Sancha, one of the
best preserved in the Iberian Peninsula.
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