Region of Ribagorza (The)

It is formed by the municipalities of Arén, Benabarre, Benasque, Bisaurri, Bonansa, Campo, Capella, Castejón de Sos,Castigaleu, Chía, Estopiñán del Castillo, Foradada de Toscar, Graus, Isábena, Lascuarre, Laspaúles, Monesma y Cajigar,Montanuy, Perarrúa, Puebla de Castro (La), Puente de Montañana, Sahún, Santa Liestra y San Quílez, Secastilla, Seira, Sesué, Sopeira, Tolva, Torre la Ribera, Valle de Bardají, Valle de Lierp, Veracruz, Viacamp y Litera, and Villanova.

The largest region in the Pyrenees, Ribagorza measures 2.459,8 Km2, has a population of 12.549 and the highest peak in Aragon, the Aneto.

Three rivers, the Ésera, the Isábena and the Noguera Ribagorzana run through the region from North to South. Life in the area revolves around three valleys where the rivers run and are spanned by numerous medieval bridges.

The towns and villages are in the valleys with high mountains to the North (Posets, Perdiguero, Maladeta or Molleres, among other peaks) and the highest peak in the Pyrenees, the Aneto reaching 3.408 metres.

The alto Ésera area is based around Benasque and the ski resort at Cerler. To the left and right of the area there are small valleys; Nocellas, Lierp and Bardají.

The river Isábena no longer has the importance it had in former times when Roda was the Episcopal headquarters of all the Ribagorza area in competition with the cathedral at Urgell. Towards the river Isábena are the Malliense or the San Esteban de Mall valleys. Upriver from Roda and Serraduy is the Ripacurciense valley where there are the well preserved remains of the Romanesque monastery of Obarra.

The third river, Noguera Ribagorzana, forms a frontier with Catalonia and there are many small valleys branching off the main artery of the river. The Romanesque monastery of Alaón, the area’s former spiritual centre and rival of San Juan de la Peña and San Victorián, stands right on the river banks of the river Noguera Ribagorzana.

The alta Ribagorza area went as far as a line of fortified castles (Pano, Perarrúa, Fantova, Roda, Güel and San Esteban de Mall), built to keep out the Muslims coming from the South. On the other side of this line is the baja Ribagorza area where Benabarre, the administrative centre of the area, and Graus, an important economic nucleus, are situated.

The region has an impressive cultural and historic heritage, picturesque landscapes and magnificent towns such as Villanova, Castejón de Sos, Llert, Sahún, Foradada de Toscar, Arén, Secastilla among others. There are also Romanesque churches such as those in Villanova, Sesué, Calvera, Llert, Campo, Perarrúa, Monesma, Cajigar, Capella, Tolva, Estopiñán del Castillo; cathedrals and monasteries such as Roda de Isábena, Obarra, Alaón, San Pedro de Tabernas,Guayente; beautiful public squares such as those in Campo, Santa Liestra, Graus, Arén, Benabarre, and lovely houses in all its villages and towns.

Mount Turbón dominates the landscape in Ribagorza; 2.492 metres high and positioned just between the rivers Ësera and Isábena and between the Maladeta and the Sierras Exteriores. It is also a reference point for the valleys of Isábena, Lierp, Bardaxí and the southern part of the Benasque valley. It has long been the way to the Alta Ribagorza and France and birthplace to ancient myths and legends of witches and spirits.

Numerous hermitages, bridges and towers surprise the traveller at every twist and turn of the road as do strategically placed castles and fortifications built in impossible locations such as those at Peranúa, Montañana, Benabarre and Viacamp.

Benasque, on the banks of the river Ésera preserves large old houses withfortress towers (Juste y Faure) and the palace of the Counts of Ribagorza, a refined Renaissance building.

The Benasque school of mountaineering, is a training centre with educational programes and activities in the fields of sport, mountains and nature. Near the town of Benasque is the spa, an establishment long renowned for its thermal spring waters. Formerly it lodged travellers crossing the Pyrenees. Now it is completely modernised and offers ideal conditions for relaxation and hydrotherapy.

The Posets-Maladeta Natural Park is a large protected space containing a splendid set of peaks over 3,000 metres high, including Mount Aneto, the highest in the Pyrenees, and some glaciers which have been declared protected Natural Monuments.

Paths coming from all over the Ribagorza area meet in Graus, located at the junction of the rivers Ésera and Isábena. Graus has a beautiful charterhouse overlooking the town and one of the most attractive main squares in Aragón.

Graus has a famous festival called the Mojiganga, picturesque and interactive with many traditional figures and dances. 10 kilometres Hawai in Panillo there is a Buddhist Centre Vajyayana Dag Shang Kagyu, a spiritual refuge that has become a sort of touristy Tibet in Huesca that is worth visiting.

Roda de Isábena, the village that was once home to the Bishop of Ribagorza has a wonderful old catedral Catedral, perhaps the oldest in Aragón, founded in 956 by Ramón II, Count of Ribagorza.

In the village of Capella there is a splendid Medieval bridge, one of many in the area such as the Olvena bridge,

Puente de Olvena, set in spectacular countryside and bearing the legend that it was not constructed by human hands. There is an interesting archaeological site near Puebla de Castro, where the Roman city of Labitolosa is on view.

The river Noguera Ribagorzana, frontier between Aragón and Catalonia. The town of Benabarre, capital of central Ribagorza lies at the foot of the castle and is characterised by its steep, narrow streets, passages and porches.

In Secastilla travellers can visit the Torreciudad sanctuary.

South of Mont-rebey there is a narrow pass where the river crosses the sierra de Mongay. The route can be followed on foot along a track carved out of the rocks on the left bank. On the other side of the gorge is the Chiriveta castle tower. Downriver is the hermitage of Santa Quiteria de Montfalcó, hanging over the precipice. Further South in the abandoned Finestras, there is another hermitage in a spectacular and seemingly inaccessible location, between two lines of sharp rocks. Arén, is another place worth visiting with an attractive centre and a main square with rough arches where visitors will find the Ribagorza museum Center of Interpretation de la Ribagorza and discover the history, art, traditions and ecosystems existing in the valleys that make up the region.

There are many other such museums and discovery centres in the region such as the curious Toy museum in Campo; the museum of Electricity in Seira, where the workings of the Seira dam are explained; the Catedral museum in Roda de Isábena, with its examples of ecclesiastic medieval splendor; the three discovery centres in the Posets-Maladeta Park located in Montanuy, Eriste (Sahún) and Anciles (Benasque).

© Prames