Canonry of Santa María de Alquézar
Collegiate Church of Alquézar / Alchezar / Alquezer / Alquèssar
(Alquézar, Huesca)
The castle of Alquézar was conquered around 1067 in the time of Sancho Ramírez (King of Aragon between 1063 and 1094) and served as a base for future incursions into Islamic lands. Its name perfectly denotes its Arabic origin (Al-Qasr). As had been done in Loarre and Montearagón, shortly after its occupation, an regular canonical monastery was established under the patronage of Santa María, which was endowed with goods and revenues for its maintenance.
The first abbot and organiser of the canonry was Sancho, until then in charge of the monastery of San Juan de Matidero, which became dependent on the latter. The church of this community was consecrated in 1099. In 1119 it was a priory with a very small but influential community of clerics. It was a regular community, but it seems that it never assumed the rule of Saint Augustine, like Montearagón, Loarre and other similar institutions. The site was the subject of disputes between the episcopal sees of Roda and Huesca for its control and dominion.
Finally, Count Ramón Berenguer IV subjected the canonry to the diocese of Tortosa (1149) and the bishops of Tortosa became priors of Alquézar until 1242, when it finally came under the jurisdiction of the see of Huesca. In 1252 it was secularised, becoming a secular chapter. Within the structure of the castle, the church is preserved, which was built between 1525 and 1532 on the site of a previous building, the temple conserves valuable liturgical furnishings. The entrance is through a cloister, built between the 13th and 14th centuries, taking advantage of the old Romanesque atrium, to which three other galleries were added. That primitive atrium conserves a series of very characteristic historiated capitals, the cloister walls were decorated with mural paintings from the 15th and 18th centuries, many of which are still preserved today.
Albarrana tower
Illustration published in Retratos de los Reyes de España... (1788)
Cloister of the collegiate church
Creation of Man
Cloister
Cloister. Epiphany
Main altarpiece
Christ (13th century)
- BARRIOS, M. Dolores (2010). Documentos de la colegiata de Santa María de Alquézar, siglos XI al XIII. Osca. Instituto de Estudios Altoaragoneses
- DURÁN GUDIOL, Antonio (1979). Historia de Alquézar. Saragossa: Guara Ed.
- DURÁN GUDIOL, Antonio (1994). La villa y la colegiata de Alquézar. Osca: Instituto de Estudios Altoaragoneses
- MONSERRAT, Sebastián (1882). Aragón histórico, pintoresco y monumental. Tomo I, Huesca. Saragossa
- UBIETO, Agustín (1999). Los monasterios medievales en Aragón. Saragossa: C. A. Inmaculada
In the municipality of Alquézar