The artistic style of the Cistercian in Aragon. Aragon cultura Aragon in English. Spain.

The origin of the Cistercians

Cistercian comes from the Latin name of Citeaux (near Dijon, France), where the first Cistercian foundation was created.

The French monk Robert of Molesmes retired to this place in Burgundy in 1098 to renounce the splendor of the Order of Cluny and wish to reestablish the austerity that characterized the Benedictine order in its origins (5th century).

Shortly later, Saint Bernard founded Clairvaux, deploying enormous apologetic and doctrinal work.
This reform of the relaxed Cluniac Benedictine observance quickly spread throughout medieval Europe.

Cistercian construction style

Its architecture is faithful to the Benedictine monastic model, to which it gives practical meaning and a precise purpose: Recollection and Prayer.
The constructions are sober, not exempt from grandeur, simplicity and ornamental nudity.
The perfect stonework is a transitional style from Romanesque to Gothic with pointed arches and pointed vaults.

The Cistercian in Aragon

Large foundations were built in Aragon, the first of which was Veruela (1145 or 1146), which was followed by Rueda (1153), Piedra (1194) and Fonclara (1223) then Santa Fe in Cuarte , all in the current province of Zaragoza; In addition, the female monasteries of Trasobares (c. 1168), near Veruela, and Cambrón were erected, transferred in the 16th century to that of Santa Lucía in the Aragonese capital, the only active one in the province.

Not only did they contribute new religious-spiritual and cultural values but also economic-political values through the dominance of space through the colonizing effort. The "plowing monks", as the Cistercians have been called due to their agricultural economic influence, organized their abbeys as true centers of repopulation of depopulated or sparsely populated areas through the plowing of uncultivated lands. , or in defensive-border territories. To control the space, water resources were organized, building a wide network of irrigation ditches, dams and mills around each monastery.

The Cistercian monks never neglected material reality, transforming their heritage into profitable units of production and distribution: They cleared uncultivated lands, freeing them of weeds, they drained swampy areas and developed crops, they raised large sheep herds and traded the products of their work.

Aragon witnessed the early arrival of the Cistercians, since these religious foundations were promoted by the Aragonese crown with the confirmation of numerous privileges and donations, and the help that the ruling classes in need of settlers in their lands provided to the Order. The Cistercian movement was cardinal for the Kingdom of Aragon, in the colonization process after the reconquest, promoting geographical and human articulation, and the architectural renewal of religious and civil art, in the middle valley of the Ebro.

The Monasteries of Veruela, Rueda and Piedra are branches of that great trunk.

Monastery location map

Map of Cistercian monasteries

Direcciones de Turismo

CALATAYUD. Plaza del Fuerte, s/n. Phone +34 976886322
CASPE. Cedemar. Plaza de España, 2. Phone +34 976636533
VERA DE MONCAYO. Paseo de Valeriano Bécquer, s/n Phone +34 976649000

Ample your information on Aragon

If you want to extend your information on Aragon you can begin crossing another interesting route is the Mudejar, Patrimony of the Humanity, also you can extend your cultural knowledge on Aragon examining its municipal and institutional heraldry without forgetting, of course, some of its emblematics figures as Saint George Pattern of Aragon also book of Aragon.

Also Aragon enjoys a diverse and varied Nature where passing by plants, animals or landscapes we can arrive at a fantastic bestiario that lives in its monuments.

The information will not be complete without a stroll by its three provinces: Zaragoza, Teruel and Huesca and his shines, with shutdown in some of its spectacular landscapes like Ordesa, the Moncayo or by opposition the Ebro.

Also you can dedicarte to the intangible ones: from the legend compilation that also does to universal Aragon you can persecute the presence of the Santo Grial in Aragon.

Francisco Javier Mendivil Navarro

The artistic style of the Cistercian in Aragon.

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