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Loarre Castle is a Romanesque Aragonese castle, located on the Loarre mountain range, Spain (about 35 kilometers from Huesca). It sits on a promontory of limestone rock that it uses as foundations, which was a great defensive advantage, since the walls could not be mined (a common technique in the siege of fortresses, which consisted of building a tunnel under the wall and then sinking it and thus opening a gap through which to assault). It is also surrounded by a wall with towers. It was recently presented as a candidate to become a world heritage site.
It is in a fairly good state of conservation (except for the part of the old castle of Sancho III of Navarra, which is much more deteriorated) and is considered the best preserved Romanesque fortress in Europe. Highlights include the small chapel, the crypt of Saint Quiteria, located at the entrance (with incredible acoustics) and the majestic church of the castle (of which the whereabouts of the Romanesque paintings are unknown) in which the dome attracts attention (due to how unusual it is in Romanesque style).
It was built in the 11th century by order of King Sancho III, to serve as an outpost from which to organize attacks against Bolea. The initial construction was later expanded to the one we know today during the reign of Sancho Ramírez, under whose reign a monastery was founded in said castle.
During the 12th century the area ceased to be a border area and the castle lost its initial function as an outpost against Muslim lands. In the 15th century, the population that lived at the foot of the castle moved to the current town of Loarre, reusing materials from the fortress.
Loarre Castle was the protagonist of the filming of the film "The Kingdom of Heaven" (2005), by director Ridley Scott, starring among others, Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Liam Neeson and Jeremy Irons. The town of Loarre participated in the filming of the film by acting as extras. The castle can be seen several times during the film. It was also the setting for the film Miguel y William (2006), with Elena Anaya, Juan Luis Galiardo, Geraldine Chaplin, Malena Alterio and Josep María Pou.
The discovery of Roman and even Iberian coins in the vicinity of the castle demonstrates the possibility of a Loarresan population long before the early Middle Ages. On October 18, 1035, King Sancho the Elder of Navarre died and his domains were distributed, as is well known, among his four sons, with Ramiro I the kingdom of Aragón Serrablo and his brother, Gonzalo, that of Sobrarbe-Ribagorza. When he died without succession in 1043, the two new Pyrenean kingdoms were united in the person of Ramiro I. Loarre was always under the jurisdiction of Ramiro I.
Within the framework of the Gregorian reform, a new monastery of canons regular was founded in the castle of Loarre. But after the foundation of the Augustinian monastery of Montearagón was decided, the castle of Loarre returned to the secular arm and the Aragonese crown.
Loarre Castle is the castle with the best medieval setting in Spain. The castle has an irregular floor plan with 10 circular towers and one square tower. The queen's tower was not a defensive tower but the door of the primitive castle, and the room of its guard body. The north tower also stands out, with a Lombard door that was possibly the authentic keep and residence of the lords of the castle. The most important tower is the Homenaje, which at 22 meters high stands out above all the castle.
