Villanueva de Sigena or Villanueva de Sijena is a town in the county of Los Monegros, in the northern province of Huesca, in Aragon (Spain). Located near the Alcanadre river, the local economy is primarily agricultural-based.
Villanueva de Sigena is the birthplace of the physician and heterodox theologian, Michael Servetus (1511?–1553). Servetus was the discoverer of pulmonary circulation. A museum and interpretation center,[2] maintained by the Michael Servetus Institute, is now located in the original house were Servetus was born.[3]
Nearby there is the original settlement, based round the partially ruined, and once wealthy and aristocratic Romanesque convent of Santa María la Real de Sijena, founded in 1183 by Sancha of Castile, Queen of Aragon. This was largely destroyed by fire in 1936 by anti-clerical Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. It is now in the process of restoration, and has been reoccupied by nuns since 1985. Several royal burials were made in the convent church, including Sancha, who died there, her son Pedro II of Aragon and two of his sisters.
The chapter house housed extremely important Romanesquefrescos of about 1200 by largely English artists, probably including some of those who produced the Winchester Bible; this was only realized after their destruction. The artists also appear to have visited Palermo before Sigena, as some influence from mosaics there can be seen. The frescos had been fully photographed in black and white shortly before their destruction, and the remaining damaged sections, mostly having lost their colour, are in the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya in Barcelona.[4]
Michael Servetus was a Spanish theologian, physician, cartographer, and Renaissance humanist. He was the first European to correctly describe the function of pulmonary circulation, as discussed in Christianismi Restitutio (1553). He was a polymath versed in many sciences: mathematics, astronomy and meteorology, geography, human anatomy, medicine and pharmacology, as well as jurisprudence, translation, poetry, and the scholarly study of the Bible in its original languages.
Tudela is a municipality in Spain, the second largest city of the autonomous community of Navarre and twice a former Latin bishopric. Its population is around 35,000. The city is sited in the Ebro valley. Fast trains running on two-track electrified railways serve the city and two freeways join close to it. Tudela is the capital of the agricultural region of Ribera Navarra, and also the seat of the courts of its judicial district.
Sancha of Castile was the only surviving child of King Alfonso VII of Castile by his second wife, Richeza of Poland. On January 18, 1174, she married King Alfonso II of Aragon at Zaragoza; they had at least eight children who survived into adulthood.
A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room that is part of a cathedral, monastery or collegiate church in which meetings are held. When attached to a cathedral, the cathedral chapter meets there. In monasteries, the whole community often met there daily for readings and to hear the abbot or senior monks talk. When attached to a collegiate church, the dean, prebendaries and canons of the college meet there. The rooms may also be used for other meetings of various sorts; in medieval times monarchs on tour in their territory would often take them over for their meetings and audiences. Synods, ecclesiastical courts and similar meetings often took place in chapter houses.
Santa Cruz de la Serós is a village in the province of Huesca, Aragon, Spain. Located 88 kilometers from the city of Huesca, it is located at a hill side on the way to the Monastery of San Juan de la Peña.
Sariñena is a municipality in the province of Huesca, Aragon, Spain. It is located in the Monegros comarca, near the Sierra de Alcubierre range.
Sopeira is a municipality located in the province of Huesca, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 100 inhabitants.
Ágreda is a municipality located in the province of Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain.
Los Monegros is a comarca in Aragon, Spain. It is located within the provinces of Zaragoza and Huesca. The area is prone to chronic droughts, and much of the area is a natural region made up of badlands.
Borja is a town and municipality in the province of Zaragoza, community of Aragon, northeastern Spain. As of 2014, its population was 4,931.
Royal Monastery of Santa María de Sigena is a convent in Villanueva de Sigena, region of Aragon, Spain. Built between 1183 and 1208, the Romanesque church was founded by Queen Sancha of Castile, wife of Alfonso II of Aragon.
Sierra de Alcubierre is a 40 km (25 mi) long mountain range in the Monegros comarca, Aragon, Spain. It is located between the provinces of Zaragoza and Huesca.
Beranuy, in Ribagorçan and Aragonese: Beranui is a municipality located in the Ribagorza (comarca) comarca, province of Huesca, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2010 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 104 inhabitants.
Monasteries in Spain have a rich artistic and cultural tradition, and serve as testament to Spain's religious history and political-military history, from the Visigothic Period to the Middle Ages. The monasteries played an important role in the recruitment conducted by Christian aristocracy during and after the progress of the Reconquista, with the consequent decline in the Muslim south of the peninsula.
The Route of the Borgias is a cultural route, that includes sites associated with the Borja or Borgia, located in their native Valencian Community, Spain. The marketing of the route was inaugurated in 2007.
Spanish Romanesque designates the Romanesque art developed in the Hispanic-Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula in the 11th and 12th centuries. Its stylistic features are essentially common to the European Romanesque although it developed particular characteristics in the different regions of the peninsula. There is no Romanesque art in the southern half of the peninsula because it remained under Muslim rule (Al-Andalus). The examples of Romanesque buildings in the central area of the peninsula are sparse and of the latest period, with virtually no presence south of the Ebro and the Tagus. Most Romanesque buildings can be found in the northern third of the peninsula. Romanesque art was introduced into the peninsula from east to west, so scholars have usually defined regional characteristics accordingly: the "eastern kingdoms" comprising the Pyrenean areas, Catalan Romanesque, Aragonese Romanesque and Navarrese Romanesque, and the "western kingdoms" comprising Castilian-Leonese Romanesque, Asturian Romanesque, Galician Romanesque and Portuguese Romanesque.
Sancha Ramírez was an Aragonese princess, the daughter of King Ramiro I and Queen Ermesinda. She was the Countess of Urgell from c.1063 until 1065 as the wife of Count Ermengol III. Her brothers Sancho Ramírez and García Ramírez became king of Aragon and bishop of Pamplona, respectively. During her brother's reign she played an important role in consolidating the kingdom of Aragon, which had been founded by her father in 1035.
Santa María de Santa Cruz de la Serós is a former Benedictine nunnery in Spain. It is located about ten miles from Jaca, in the village of Santa Cruz de la Serós, which is named after the nunnery. The church of San Caprasio, built between 1020 and 1030, a half century earlier than Santa María, stands nearby in the same village.
The Convento de Santa Clara la Real is a convent of the Poor Clares located in the city of Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. The present convent was founded in the middle of the 14th century by Toledan noblewoman María Meléndez, and is located near other monasteries of note, such as the monastery of Santo Domingo el Real and the Convent of Capuchins of Toledo.
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