Alquézar: A journey through time between walls and ravines

Located between ravines of the Sierra de Guara and bathed by the river Vero, Alquézar is a historic-artistic site since 1982 and one of the Most Beautiful Villages of Spain. Its collegiate castle crowns a labyrinthine medieval quarter, full of history, art and legends. It highlights the Mirador Sonrisa al Viento and its natural environment, ideal for hiking, canyoning and visits to the cave paintings. Its urban layout preserves the essence of its Arab and Christian past, making Alquézar a unique destination in the Aragonese Pyrenees.

The Ethnological Museum Casa Fabián offers a tour of an authentic 17th century house, with rooms such as the courtyard, kitchen, bedrooms, cellars and stables. Through its careful setting, it allows visitors to immerse themselves in the traditional way of life of the inhabitants of Somontano, from the seventeenth century to the mid-twentieth century, showing their tools, furniture and daily customs.

The castle-collegiate church of Santa María la Mayor preserves unique elements such as the Romanesque capitals of the atrium, integrated into the cloister, with scenes from Genesis (12th century). Of note are the mural paintings (14th-18th centuries) and the chapel of Santa Ana, a mixture of Gothic, Mudejar and Renaissance styles. The church, with a Gothic doorway (16th century), has star-shaped vaults and a Renaissance altarpiece conceived as a tabernacle. The chapel of the Lecina family (17th century) houses a Romanesque Christ and the Baroque organ adds musical splendor to the liturgy.

From the viewpoint "Sonrisa al Viento" you can contemplate a majestic panoramic view of Alquézar and the canyon of the Vero River before leaving the Sierra de Guara. At the top of a solitary rock, surrounded by deep ravines, stands the Christian fortress, built on the remains of an Arab castle of the ninth century. This village, whose name comes from the Arabic toponym al-Qasr, preserves its medieval layout. Conquered by Sancho Ramírez in 1067, it was repopulated after the capture of Barbastro, preserving its historical essence and its spectacular natural environment.