Discover Guaso: Romanesque Church, Historic Towers and Trails

In Barrio del Tozal, the highest of Guaso’s neighbourhoods, stands the parish church of El Salvador. Its Romanesque core dates from the middle of the 12th century. The single-nave layout and semicircular apse give the religious building its clear historic character.

Culture

The Esconjuradero de Guaso is also part of the history of the village. The priest, chaplain or sacristan used this place to recite incantations against storms, divert them away from the village or prevent the damage they could cause. The building thus points to a specific way of dealing with the forces of nature that has been passed down in the history of the village.

Another view of the past can be seen in the houses. Casa Bara and its tower date from the 16th century. Each floor of the tower has vertical loopholes; each one features a rectangular slit and a central or lower circular opening. Casa Juan de Broto has been extensively remodelled, but its main façade retains its fortified elements. The religious building, Esconjuradero and fortified residential architecture thus represent different historical traces within Guaso.

Landscape

The peaks of Pozo, Santa Marina, Tozal de la Cruz and la Tuca are located around Guaso. Their names provide individual fixed points of reference in the landscape, while the mountain-bike route from Guaso towards Santa María de Buil reveals a geological change.

Along this route, the rocky landscape changes from deep-marine, grey-blue rocks to reddish rocks formed by rivers and mountain streams. The change links travelling along the mountain-bike route with an illustrative observation of the landscape, without equating the two aspects.

Trails

The circular route “Ruta 0 Aínsa-Margudgued-Guaso-Aínsa” passes through Guaso. A hike near Guaso passes by the Mirador de la Cruceta. The circular route, mountain-bike route and hike therefore already differ in their stated form: the circular route follows a defined itinerary, the mountain-bike route describes the change in rock formations towards Santa María de Buil, and the hike identifies the Mirador de la Cruceta as a notable point.

Regional surroundings

Guaso is about 15 minutes from Aínsa, in the direction of the Sierra y Cañones de Guara park. This information should be understood as an approximate indication. In the wider regional surroundings of Guaso are the Monasterio de San Juan de Matidero monastery and the Collegiate Church of Santa Maria Maggiore.

The Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido national park and the Parque Nacional de Ordesa national park are also located in the wider regional surroundings. Together with Aínsa, the named peaks and the trails, they create a spatial structure consisting of the closer reference point and more broadly defined regional destinations.

The cultural buildings, the described change in rock formations and the different types of routes each have their own focus. Guaso can therefore be explored through historic architecture, landscape observation and trails, while the other destinations in the regional surroundings provide a broader geographical framework.

More destinations: Morillo De Tou

Back to the main travel overview: Aínsa.