San Pedro Square, church facade
The Cistercian monastery of Nuestra Señora de Rueda has its origins in the French abbey of Planselve (Notre-Dame de Gimont, Occitania), which in 1152 established a house in the place of Nuestra Señora de Salz, to the north of Zaragoza. Later, in 1166, that community moved to a place closer to the city, to Nuestra Señora de la Juncería (Juncaria). That monastery developed and grew, receiving various donations, including the site of Escatrón, on the banks of the Ebro, given by Alfonso the Chaste in 1182.
Abbot's Palace
The monks of Juncaria wanted to move to the new possessions of Escatrón, which they did not manage to do until 1202, possibly due to the instability of the territory, which at that time was in a border area. The construction process took a long time, and in 1225 the construction of the church began, with the presence of the abbot of Gimont and the laying the first stone of the building. In this place, the monastery developed considerably thanks to royal donations, especially during the time of Jaume I. In the 13th century it reached the height of its splendour, but at the end of the 14th century it began to suffer a period of decadence, which would not end until the mid-16th century when it once again enjoyed a certain stability, which allowed it to undertake new and important building works.
Monastic life in Rueda continued until the 19th century, when it suffered a series of misfortunes, common to almost every Spanish monastery at that time: the Spanish War of Independence, temporary exclaustration during the Liberal Triennium (1820-23) and definitive exclaustration in 1835, when the establishment was closed and its assets put up for sale. Part of the monastic complex became private property until 1990. In that year, the monastery was acquired by the Diputación General de Aragón, which in 1998 acquired ownership of the medieval buildings that had been in the hands of the State until then. Today, after its restoration, part of the monastery has been converted into a hotel.
Cloister and tower
Cloister
Cloister
Affiliation of Rueda
According to Originum Cisterciensium (L. Janauschek, 1877)
Chapter house
Chapter house
Chapter house
Chapter house
Refectory
Refectory
Refectory
Scriptorium
Scriptorium
South side of the square
Illustration from Recuerdos y bellezas de España. Aragón (1844)
- BARBASTRO, Luis (1993). El señorío del monasterio de Rueda (1202-1835). Gobierno de Aragón
- CONTEL, Concepción (1977). El Císter zaragozano en los siglos XIII y XIV. Abadía de Nuestra Señora de Rueda de Ebro. Saragossa: Inst. Fernando el Católico
- CONTEL, Concepcion (1981). El cister zaragozano en el siglo XV, decadencia del monasterio de Santa María de Rueda de Ebro. Cuadernos de Historia J. Zurita, núm. 39
- IBARGÜEN SOLER, Javier (2005). El monasterio cisterciense de Nª Sª de Rueda y su restauración. Loggia, núm. 17
- IBARGÜEN SOLER, Javier (2008). Real Monasterio de Nuestra Señora de Rueda. Saragossa: Gobierno de Aragón
- LIAÑO MARTÍNEZ, Emma (2009). La época del Císter y de las nuevas catedrales en la Corona de Aragón. Arte de épocas inciertas. De la Edad Media a la Edad Contemporánea
- SARIÑENA, Víctor; i altres (1990). El monasterio de Ntra. Sra. De Rueda. Grupo Cultural Caspolino
- UBIETO, Agustín (1999). Los monasterios medievales en Aragón. Saragossa: C. A. Inmaculada
- VAUBOURGOIN, Jean R. (1968). El Real Monasterio de Nuestra Señora de Rueda. Seminario de Arte Aragonés, núm. 13-14-15
The monastery is in the municipality of Sástago, on the left bank of the Ebro, opposite Escatrón