Monastery of Santa Cruz de la Serós
Santa María de la Serós / Sororibus de Sancta Cruce / San Ginés
(Santa Cruz de la Serós / Jaca, Huesca)
The female Benedictine monastery of Santa Cruz de la Serós was founded by Sancho II of Pamplona (Count of Aragon, 970-994) who, together with his wife Urraca of Castile, endowed it with a rich patrimony in 992. It was initially dedicated to Santa María, but later changed its name to Santa Cruz, the word Serós being the result of the evolution of the original name of Santa Cruz de las Sorores.
It has been said that the primitive female monastery was located in the same place as San Juan de la Peña and that in the middle of the 11th century it was moved to a new location. In any case, the boost that relaunched the monastery was given by the grandson of Sancho II, Ramiro I (King of Aragon, 1035-1063), who in the mid-11th century gave more property to the community of nuns in an act that has also been considered its founding (refoundation or transfer). In 1061, Urraca, daughter of Ramiro I, professed, according to a document which also states that it was a community of Benedictine nuns who maintained a certain dependence on San Juan de la Peña. Later, two more daughters of Ramiro I also professed: Teresa and Sancha (the latter around 1070).
Sancha was the widow of Ermengol III of Urgell († 1066) and thanks to her status was able to influence the house where she carried out property administration tasks. At this time a magnificently bound Gospel would have arrived at the monastery, in which the name of Queen Felicia de Roucy († a. 1094), wife of Sancho I of Aragon (King of Aragon 1063-1094), is recorded. There is evidence that the covers of this book were still preserved in Jaca in 1802, but after passing into the hands of various collectors, they are now in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. In addition, the patrimony was considerably enlarged by the donation of several villages to the monastery.
Western portal
Tympanum of the western portal with a chrismon among lions
The good economic situation at the end of the 11th century enabled the community to carry out important construction works in the monastery. In 1097 the Countess Sancha died, for whom a magnificent tomb was built (perhaps commissioned by herself), which was installed in the monastic church and can now be seen in the new monastery of Jaca. The Aragonese monarchs (Pedro I, Ramiro II...) continued to enrich the house, which by the end of the 12th century had become an important centre of power.
In 1555, a papal bull authorised the transfer of the community to the city of Jaca, where it moved to occupy an old church dedicated to San Ginés. The Benedictine community remains here today. In 1622, the tomb of the Countess Sancha and the remains of her sisters, Urraca and Teresa, were also moved. The church is the only survivor of the monastery; nothing remains of the rest of the monastic buildings. It is a church with a single nave to which two side chapels were added as a transept. It has two doorways, one on the side and the second, more complete, at the foot of the nave. A powerful bell tower rises above one of the side chapels, which characterises the building. As a curiosity, it is worth mentioning the chamber located above the intersection of the nave and the false transept.
Schematic plan of the church
Western portal
Western portal
Bell tower
Central apse
Side apse
South portal
Capital of the apse
Illustration from Compendio de crónicas de reyes (14th century)
Biblioteca Nacional de España
Photo by unknown author (1911)
Private collection
Engraving by Parcerisa published in Recuerdos y bellezas de España (1844)
The monastery of Jaca
Blazon on the facade of the monastery
The tomb of Countess Sancha (c. 1097)
A bishop accompanied by clerics
The soul of Countess Sancha
Sancha between two women, possibly her sisters Urraca and Teresa
The tomb of Countess Sancha (c. 1097)
Knights' fight
David fighting a lion
Inscription of the transfer of the tomb (1555)
Valentín Carderera (1855)
Biblioteca Nacional de España
Covers of an evangeliary from the monastery (b. 1085)
Named after Queen Felicia de Roucy
Metropolitan Museum, New York
- BUESA CONDE, Domingo (2018). Santa Cruz de la Serós y el sarcófago de la condesa Sancha. Panteones Reales de Aragón. Gobierno de Aragón
- BUESA CONDE, Domingo; SIMON, David L. (1994). La condesa Doña Sancha y los orígenes de Aragón. Saragossa: Ibercaja
- DEL ARCO, Ricardo (1913). El monasterio de Santa Cruz de la Serós. Linajes de Aragón. Vol. IV
- FAVREAU, Robert (2001). Les inscriptions du tympan de Santa María de las Sorores à Santa Cruz de las Serós. Poitiers: Civilisation Médiévale, 12
- OCÓN, Dulce; RODRÍGUEZ, Paloma (1987). Los tímpanos de Jaca y Santa Cruz de la Serós, una pretendida relación modelo-copia. Vè. Congrés espanyol d'Història de l'Art
- OLIVÁN, Francisco (1969). Los monasterios de San Juan de la Peña y Santa Cruz de la Serós. Saragossa
- PÉREZ GONZÁLEZ, José María; dir. (2016). Enciclopedia del Románico en Aragón. Huesca. Aguilar de Campoo: Fundación Santa María la Real
- PIFERRER, Pablo (1844). Recuerdos y bellezas de España. Aragón. Barcelona: J. Verdaguer
- QUETGLES, Maria Lluïsa (2011). Una nova lectura iconogràfica del sarcòfag de doña Sancha. Porticvm. Revista d’estudis medievals
- RAMON DE HUESCA (1802). Teatro histórico de la iglesias del Reyno de Aragón. Vol. VIII. Pamplona: Vda. Longás
- UBIETO, Agustín (1999). Los monasterios medievales en Aragón. Saragossa: C. A. Inmaculada
- UBIETO, Antonio (1966). Cartulario de Santa Cruz de la Serós. València: Textos Medievales, 19
The monastery was located in Santa Cruz de la Serós, southwest of Jaca
- Santa Cruz de la Serós
- The current monastery, in Jaca