2nd stage: from Jaca to Sangüesa
Having rested in Jaca, pilgrims begin
the second stage of their journey, which takes them first
to the Medieval village of Santa Cecilia de Jaca, where a
monastery stood in the 11C. In the surrounding area can be
found the Romanesque hermitage of San Juan Caprasio (11 C),
the church of Santa María (11-12 C), with a tower considered
the finest of the Aragonese Romanesque style, and the Romanesque
monastery of San Juan de la Peña. The route leaves
Santa Cecilia de Jaca and then leads to Berdún, Sigues,
Escó and Tiermas. Upon leaving this last village, it
enters Navarra by Yesa. Not far from Yesa is the Benedictine
monastery of Leyre and, in the opposite direction, the castle
of Xavier.
In its days of greatest splendour, the monastery
of Leyre served as episcopal see, royal court and pantheon
of the Navarrese kings. It includes a church with Gothic
nave and Romanesque chancel, a 12 C portal and a Preromanesque
crypt decorated with capitals supported by small shafts.
Not far from the monastery is the castle of Xavier, a place
of pilgrimage, especially on "javieradas" day.
The route forks at Yesa. The first branch
continues to Liédana, where are the remains of a
Roman town, and the second leads to Sangüesa, which
was founded as a village-road. In this town pilgrims can
visit the Romanesque church of Santa María and admire
its façade, three apses and an octogonal tower, created
in the Gothic style; the Romanesque-Gothic church of Santiago;
the Gothic church of Salvador; the monastery of San Francisco
de Asís; and the convent of Nuestra Señora
del Carmen. The town´s civil architecture includes
the palace of the Prince of Viana, the town hall -of Renaissance
style-, and the counts of Guendulaín´s and
the dukes of Granadas de Ega´s palaces.
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