Surroundings & Driving Routes, Huesca

From Huesca, N 240 runs northwest over the fertile plain of La Hoya and then climbs, with many bends and fine views of the Pyrenees to the right, on to the Meseta, and comes to the little town of Ayerbe (alt. 560m/1837ft), with the 15th century Palacio de los Marqueses de Ayerbe.

8km/5mi northeas of Ayerbe, at the foot of the Sierra de Loarre, is Loarre. On a crag above the village stands the Castillo de Loarre, one of the finest Romanesque castles in Spain. It was built by King Sancho I Ramírez from 1076 onwards on the site of the Roman fort of Calagurris Fibularia, and was a royal residence until the 12th century. The castle is surrounded by a double circuit of walls with round towers, above which rise the rectangular keep and the church of Santa María. The church, built over a crypt, originally belonged to an Augustinian monastery within the castle. The columns in the nave have beautiful floral capitals.

Beyond Ayerbe, N 240 crosses the Río Gállego and traverses a gorge-like valley, with the mighty crags of the Mallos de Riglos on the right, followed by the Embalse de la Peña.

N 240 continues to a road junction at Santa María de la Peña (alt. 542m/1778ft), where N 330 branches off on the right, crosses the Puerto de Oroel (1080m/3543ft) and comes to Jaca. N 240 continues up the valley of the Río Asabón, with the Sierra de la Peña on the right. Going over the Puerto de Santa Bárbara (864m/2835ft), from which there are extensive views, it runs down to Puente la Reina de Jaca, in the valley of the Río Aragón, where N 240 turns west for Pamplona.

From Huesca a beautiful road (C 1310) leads southeast via Sariñena and Villanueva de Sigena, with the monastery of Sigena (Romanesque church), to enter the valley of the Río Cinca, follow the river downstream and join N II, the main road linking Zaragoza and Lérida. A short distance along this to the left (135km/84mi from Huesca) is the little town of Fraga (alt. 120m/395ft), picturesquely situated above the left bank of the Río Cinca. Its main features of interest are a number of noble mansions and the church of San Pedro, which occupies the site of an earlier mosque; originally Romanesque (12th century), it was later rebuilt.