Monasterio de Piedra
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Monasterio de Piedra (Monastery of the Rock) is a monastery, hotel and park complex located in Spain, in the region of Aragon, Zaragoza province. The monastery was founded in 1194 by thirteen Cistercian monks from Poblet Monastery, in an old castle next to the Piedra river, and was dedicated to St. Mary the Fair (Santa María la Blanca). The entire complex has been declared a national monument.
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[edit] History
The monastery’s construction progressed in three architectural stages: Gothic (13th century), Renaissance Gothic (16C) and Classical-Baroque (18C).
Entrance through the walls was gained through the medieval keep; the church, destroyed in the early part of the 19th century, opened onto the cloister, noted for its great arches, and the various premises of the monastery. The beautiful chapter house (from the early 12th century) was the vital center of monastic life; the monks resided in the main building (17th century), which has today been converted into a quiet hotel. The Romanesque columns of the old abbatial residence support the current Neoclassical one, constructed in the 18th century.
[edit] Park
The Piedra river canyon in the vicinity of the monastery is a place of extreme natural beauty, a lush, garden-like environment of waterfalls, mosses and rivulets in the midst of an arid wilderness. A marked and fenced path winds its way through the course of the canyon, with overlooks of several waterfalls; the longest and most notable of these is the "Horsetail" (Cola del Caballo), at more than fifty meters high. These waterfalls are formed by the precipitation of dissolved limestone that occurs when the decreasing river level exposes rocks to sunshine; this results in water evaporation and deposits the limestone in successive layers through which the water runs, forming countless rivulets. Minor fluctuations in the river's own flow have resulted in the Karst topography of the region.
[edit] Access
Monasterio de Piedra is relatively isolated. It is located 118 km (70.8 mi) southwest of the city of Zaragoza; to reach it from there, one would take the A-2 in the direction of Madrid until Calatayud, and from there the A-202 to Nuévalos; the Monastery is located two kilometers beyond Nuévalos.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- This article was initially translated from the Wikipedia article Monasterio de Piedra, specifically from this version.
