The first question you ask yourself when you view the impressive castle from its walls, is how many stonemasons and sculptors worked on the construction of this castle?
The castle stands alone today, but before, the town of Loarre had nestled at its feet. The perimeter wall you see, with its ten semi-circular towers, its doors and its grandeur, is probably the second wall that was built.
At the end of the thirteenth century, after the attack and looting that the town had suffered in 1287 at the hands of Don Pedro, lord of the barony of Ayerbe, it was decided to build the wall. Although probably there had previously been some sort of wall during the time of Sancho Ramírez (1096).

In some publications, you will read that this was a watchtower or part of the castle defence. It is not true. This tower was the bell tower of the church of the old town of Loarre, which was located at the foot of the castle. Here, you can still see part of the foundations of some of the houses, and the cemetery, with headstones.
An Albarrana tower is one from which the access door to a fortification is defended. But what is this tower defending? Nothing. What’s more, it was built after the castle. And it is too far below the castle to be a watchtower.

The volume and solemnity of Romanesque construction are with us, right from the entrance.
In the frieze above the door, there is a group of sculptures where the image of the Christ in Majesty stands out in an almond-shaped surround, together with the images of the four evangelists and some angels. The ornate decoration is topped by a lintel with corbels and stone figures.
The staircase is impressive, with its height and its dome. It seems to go up forever, but do not worry – it does not reach heaven. Notice that before the start of the dome there is a typical Aragonese Romanesque element – chequered “Jaqués” stonework.
The Santa Quiteria crypt is accessed from halfway up the staircase. Originally it was connected to the Church of San Pedro, which is on a higher level. Here, the relics of San Demetrio of Thessalonica were worshipped, before they were transferred to the Church of St. Stephen (San Esteban) in Loarre. Go slowly here. You have to get used to the dim light to see it well. It’s worth waiting. And above all, check the impressive acoustics by speaking from the altar.

The architectural perfection, the size and height of the nave; the dome and the decoration of the sanctuary with its semi-circular arches; the imposts with chequered stonework, and the decorated chapiters confirm that you are in a church worthy of kings.

On the fourteen chapiters of the decorative arches, the medieval masters combined the plant-like decoration with figurative carvings that sometimes are very difficult to interpret. But on other occasions, like with the representation of Daniel, they are very easy to understand.

Some are very high and are hardly visible. So that you do not miss a detail, we leave you an interactive map with the chapiters of A. García Omedes.

King Sancho Ramírez installed a monastery in the castle for canons regular of the order of San Agustín, who had been in Loarre for just twenty-six years.
Having more people meant that the castle had to be modified to house them and for that reason, the north pavilions were built. Initially, the sleeping area of the monastery had two floors. The wooden top floor has been lost. Look how small these sleeping quarters are. Perhaps that’s why they call them cells.

You are going to enter the primitive enclosure of the castle of Loarre.
The three towers, of the Queen, of Homage and the North, are all in the Lombard Romanesque style. Look at the way the stonemasons carved these stones, called Dimension Stones, with an elongated format, but smaller than the blocks you’ve seen in the church of San Pedro and without stonemasons’ marks.
The Tower of the Queen served as the defence of the main door and residence.
Thirty-one meters high, the Homage Tower is one of the best examples of military architecture of the eleventh century. It has five small rooms, one with a fireplace and another that was a toilet. From it, through its small holes, you can see what is happening outside.
The third tower is in the courtyard, and its state of conservation is worse than the others.

With that name the imagination flies and pictures the queen in her palace. But remember, Loarre is a military fortress with a monastic community inside. The Queen and women, in general, had to keep a low profile in the Loarre of the X-XIII centuries.
The Queen’s lookout and its magnificent views gave light to a pavilion that no longer exists. What was the function of the pavilion? We do not know. A monastic library? Let your imagination decide.

The people who lived in the lower part of the fortress moved, around the year 1500, to the village of San Esteban de la Huerta, which was henceforth called Loarre. Life on the plain was going to be much easier for the inhabitants of the castle’s steep location.
And they took with them the relics of St. Demetrius of Thessalonica that were previously in the crypt of the castle, having arrived there in the following way: “Two French clerics passed through the Pyrenees with a mule loaded with the chest full of the relics of San Demetrio. Upon arrival in Jaca, all the church bells of all the churches began to ring. The Jacetanos, eager that the treasure stays in Jaca, and upon the refusal of the clergymen to abandon the relics, blinded the mule and decided that the relics should remain wherever the animal stopped. The mule began to walk until it came to the castle of Loarre. At the foot of the castle walls, the mule died, and the relics remained in the castle. “