Loarre Castle

Loarre Castle

A fortress on the rocks

On a rocky spur in the foothills of the Pyrenees, overlooking the wide plains of Aragon in northern Spain, stands the great fortress of Loarre. With its sturdy round towers, its chapel and its strong walls all built of golden stone that seems to grow out of the rock beneath, it is one of the oldest and best-preserved Romanesque castles in all of Europe. Its powerful, ancient shape has made it a favourite of historians and filmmakers alike.

Built on the frontier

Loarre was built mainly in the early 1000s, in the time of the kings of Aragon and Navarre — long before many of the famous castles of Europe. In those days this was a dangerous frontier between the small Christian kingdoms of the north and the Muslim lands of al-Andalus to the south. A strong castle here helped the Christian kings defend their territory and push the frontier southward.

The most important builder was King Sancho the Great and his successors, who turned Loarre into both a fortress and a religious centre. Because it was built so early and so solidly, and because it was never knocked down to make way for grander buildings, Loarre preserves the look of an early medieval castle better than almost anywhere else.

A castle and a monastery

Loarre is unusual because it was not only a fortress but also home to a community of monks. Within its walls stands a beautiful Romanesque church, with a fine vaulted ceiling and carved stone decoration, built for the religious brothers who lived and prayed here alongside the soldiers.

Climbing through the castle, visitors pass along dim stone passages, up winding stairs in the towers, and into the church and the royal rooms. There is even a crypt below the church. The whole place feels powerfully old, a true survivor from the dawn of the great age of castles.

Left behind by history

As the centuries passed, the Christian kingdoms grew, and the frontier with the Muslim south moved far away. Loarre, no longer needed to guard a dangerous border, lost its importance. But unlike many castles, it was not torn down or rebuilt — it was simply left, and so its early medieval form survived almost unchanged into modern times.

A star of the screen

Because it looks so authentically ancient, Loarre has been used as a setting for films about the Middle Ages and the Crusades, including a famous Hollywood epic. Its golden towers and rugged walls make a perfect backdrop for stories of knights and battles, and this fame has brought many visitors to the quiet hills of Aragon.

Visiting today

Visitors who climb to Loarre can explore its towers, walls and passages, step into its lovely Romanesque church, and look out over the vast plains of Aragon spread far below. Information helps bring to life the early kings who built it on the edge of a war-torn frontier. Ancient, golden and wonderfully preserved, Loarre Castle is a window into the very beginnings of Europe's great age of castles.