Church of San Pedro el Viejo

San Pedro el Viejo is arguably the most interesting church in Huesca, built on the site of a mosque that itself stood on a Roman temple. The current Romanesque structure dates mainly from the 12th century. The cloister is its finest feature — an arcaded walk with carved capitals depicting biblical scenes, saints, and the kind of fantastical creatures that Romanesque sculptors carved when they ran out of canonical subjects. The carving is of high quality and the setting is quiet and contemplative.

The church contains the tombs of two Aragonese kings and was the site of some of the medieval kingdom's most dramatic moments. It requires only half an hour to visit, but the cloister rewards slower attention.

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The cloister of San Pedro el Viejo contains the tombs of two Aragonese kings: Alfonso I "the Battler" (died 1134) and Ramiro II "the Monk" (died 1157). Ramiro is the more unusual case — he abandoned his monastery, married a French princess, produced an heir to prevent the Crown of Aragon from passing to the Knights Templar, then returned to religious life. His tomb is one of the few physical reminders that medieval kingship was often a more improvised business than the chronicles suggest.

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