Loarre Castle

Loarre was built from around 1020 by Sancho III of Navarre on a rock spur above the plain, at a point when this was the frontier with Muslim Zaragoza, and it was extended by Sancho Ramirez of Aragon after 1071 with a Romanesque church and an Augustinian community, making it a castle and monastery together. Because the frontier moved south within decades it lost its purpose and was never rebuilt or modernised, which is why it survives as an eleventh-century building rather than a layered one, and it is generally described as the best-preserved Romanesque castle in Europe. The church has a barrel-vaulted crypt and carved capitals. Ridley Scott filmed Kingdom of Heaven here in 2004. The outer wall with eight towers was added later.

What you actually see

• The Romanesque church - a vaulted chapel with a crypt and carved capitals.
• The eleventh-century fabric - a castle never modernised after its frontier role ended.
• The outer wall - a later circuit with eight towers below the keep.
• The plain view - the Ebro basin spread out from the rock spur.

When to go

April to June and September to November; the site is exposed and Huesca summers are hot. It closes on some weekdays in winter and keeps longer hours in summer. Guided visits run at set times.

Honest expectations

The castle is steep inside with many steps, narrow stairs and unlit passages. There is no shade on the approach. Access is by a winding road with parking below the walls.

Nearby

The Mallos de Riglos lie west; Huesca and the Sierra de Guara are south and north.