The Visit to Loarre Castle - Zaragoza, Spain
A stroll round the inside of the castle, built 1,070 m above sea level, offers an attractive tour of the turrets and passageways leading up to the Queen's Balcony, from which there is a fantastic view
overlooking Hoya de Huesca.
The Visit
1 - The outer wall. Welcome . Dating back to the 13th century, completely surrounds the 10,000 sq m site on the southern site, with the remainder of the castle being protected by the rock face on
which it is perched. \the 172-metre perimeter is studded with towers, which are all circular in
shape except for one which is rectangular, with the entrance being located on a bend so as to guard against the entry of potential invaders.
2 - The Landscape. The castle sits at the entrance to the Pyrenees in the south, we saw the plain of
La Hoya de Huesca and Zaragoza in the background and borders north mountains and Jaca.
3 - Sancho Gares 111,Pamplona king's, orders in early the 11th of the original building Loarre
Castle
4 - Phases of construction: 1020- 1035 Military fortress
1071 Monastery
1287 Walls
On your left is the flanking tower from the end of the 11th century tower, whose mission was
surveillance..
5 - Gateway to the castle, a military -cum-religious building of Romansque architecture.
6 - Stairway leading into the castle,passing beneath a barrel vault and decorated with a chequered
freize in the style that is typical of Jaca. First unit on the left, the guardhouse, a room that offered shelter to the soldiers guarding the main gate.
7 - St Quiteria's Crypt, a small chamber used for worship and burial, in which treasures were kept,
with a narrow stairway leading to the Church.
8 - Church of St Peter, the Royal Chapel, is of magnificent design. There is a square transept
separating the nave and semicircular apse at the top, crowned by a large dome 26 metres above
The light enters through the beautiful windows with fine columns. Attentionis drawn to the
decoration of the apse with its columns supported by pillars with fanastic shapes and vegetables and biblical scenes depicted on their capitals.
9 - Halls crossing
10- Monastery buildings, dating back to the beginning of the 11th century, originally the chambers
of the ancient clerics, subsequently becoming the residence of the nobles.
11- Dungeons used as a pantry by the friars, and at a later date by the nobles as a prison
12- Armoury the place where weapons were stored when the castle was inhabited by the nobles
13 - Twin-arched windows Overlooking the area where until the 16th century stood the village of Loarre at the foot of the castle.
14 - Sancho Ramirez king of Aargon orders at the end of the 11th century the expasnsion of the primitive Castle of Loarre, include the monastery#
15 - Gateway to the ancient fortress, dating back to the beginning of the 11th century.
16- Queen's Balcony and the water tanks, capable of collecting up to 80,000 litres of rainwater
from the roofs.
17 - Parade ground in the northern zone, highlight the western buildings the North Tower (of the
original castle, destroyed) are the kitchens
18 - The Queen's Tower, with a beautiful set of twin-arched windows facing south to keep watch
over and protect the entrance to the original fortress
19 - The Keep, the castle's tallest tower (22m) and the most difficult to reach, will five floors, an
ideal place to shelter, since the only way from the tower to the castle was via a drawbridge, which could be raised to isolate it in times of seige
End of the visit
Opening Hours
Open seven days a week (except Christmas day and new Year's day)
Summer (16th June - 15th September) from 10 to 2 pm and from 4 to 8 pm
Winter (1st November - 28th February) from 11 am to 2 pm and from 3.30 to 5.30 pm
Spring - Autumn (1st March - 15th June and 16th September - 31st October) from 10.am to 2 pm
and from 4 to 7 pm
Loarre Castle
Zaragoza
Tel: +34 974 342 161
Fax: +34 974 382 639
Web: www.castillodeloarre.es
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