Valentuñana Monastery

Built by the Discalced Carmelites at the end of the 17th century, the Convent of Our Lady of Valentuñana is located about 2 km. from the town of Sos del Rey Católico. The Carmelites came to this place in order to live a community life with the Virgin of Valentuñana and to attend to the pastoral needs of the surrounding villages. But the history of the Discalced Carmelites was not as peaceful and calm as they would have liked to live it. They had not finished building the Convent when Sos was invaded by French troops during the War of Independence. The religious had to abandon the Convent. They tried to return but were again surprised by the Carlist Wars, and finally abandoned the Convent after the decree of disentailment of Mendizábal in 1835. The ruins of the Convent, after some years of abandonment, are acquired by a widow, lover of the Virgin of Valentuñana and donated to the Bishopric of Jaca. The Bishop of Jaca offered the Augustinian Recollects the possibility of continuing the work of the Discalced Carmelites. The Augustinian Recollects arrived in Valentuñana on October 13, 1902. It became a Major Seminary and from 1918 groups of missionaries began to leave for the Americas, a work in which the Augustinian Recollects continue to this day. Proof of these missions is a visit to the Cloister, converted into a small missionary museum, the Church and the Hall of the Virgins.