WHAT TO SEE
Aragonese Route 2: From Jaca to Sangüesa
Having rested in Jaca, pilgrims begin the second stage of their journey, which takes them first to the Medieval village of Santa Cecilia de Jaca, where a monastery stood in the 11C. In the surrounding area can be found the Romanesque hermitage of San Juan Caprasio (11 C), the church of Santa María (11-12 C), with a tower considered the finest of the Aragonese Romanesque style, and the Romanesque monastery of San Juan de la Peña. The route leaves Santa Cecilia de Jaca and then leads to Berdún, Sigues, Escó and Tiermas. Upon leaving this last village, it enters Navarra by Yesa. Not far from Yesa is the Benedictine monastery of Leyre and, in the opposite direction, the castle of Xavier.
In its days of greatest splendour, the monastery of Leyre served as episcopal see, royal court and pantheon of the Navarrese kings. It includes a church with Gothic nave and Romanesque chancel, a 12 C portal and a Preromanesque crypt decorated with capitals supported by small shafts. Not far from the monastery is the castle of Xavier, a place of pilgrimage, especially on "javieradas" day.
The route forks at Yesa. The first branch continues to Liédana, where are the remains of a Roman town, and the second leads to Sangüesa, which was founded as a village-road. In this town pilgrims can visit the Romanesque church of Santa María and admire its façade, three apses and an octogonal tower, created in the Gothic style; the Romanesque-Gothic church of Santiago; the Gothic church of Salvador; the monastery of San Francisco de Asís; and the convent of Nuestra Señora del Carmen. The town´s civil architecture includes the palace of the Prince of Viana, the town hall -of Renaissance style-, and the counts of Guendulaín´s and the dukes of Granadas de Ega´s palaces.