Monastery of Rueda

It intended to bring back to life St. Benedict rule’s spirit, work and prayer, Ora et Labora.

King Alfonso II lent Cistercian monks the village and the castle of Escatrón in 1182. In 1238 the church was consecrated, but the monastery was ended at the end of 14th century or at the beginning of the 15th century, concluding the final stages in the temple and some rooms and particular spaces, typical in Cistercian buildings: converts facility, farm and craftwork areas, abbey palace…

These spaces were deeply renovated along the 16^th and 18^th centuries to end up in the current lay-out around an amazing Saint Peter’s Square, outstanding in quality and visual impact, particularly the Herrerian gallery communicating the Abbey palace with the medieval building.

One of the essential traits of this monastery appears in the plumbing, possibly implemented from the start. Located by Ebro river, the small swamp and the massive wheel allowed bringing water to the monastery, which was distributed through channels all over the architectonical lay-out, key for watering functions, as well as for monks’ daily life.

Mendizabal’s ecclesiastic confiscation in 1836 ignited the religious end of the monastery, being relegated to a merely farm and livestock premise. Finally, the Regional Government became its owner in 1998.

Nowadays, this magnificent Cistercian monastery can be visited thanks to guided tours managed by Tourism of Aragón.

The building holds a four-star hotel: Hospedería Monasterio de Rueda. The hotel owns to the Hospederías of Aragón Network, formed by a number of hotels whose main feature is their singularity and high quality standards, and all of them are hosted in particularly interesting buildings in terms of Heritage or landscape surroundings.