Santa Cruz de la Serós: Romanesque Architecture, Pilgrimage Routes and Protected Landscapes

Santa Cruz de la Serós is home to the Iglesia del Monasterio de Santa María, an outstanding example of High Aragonese Romanesque architecture. The church was built in the 11th and 12th centuries and inspired by Jaca Cathedral.

Culture

The Iglesia de San Caprasio was built at the end of the 11th century in the Romanesque style of the Lombard tradition. Its single-nave layout has a semicircular apse facing east.

The Iglesia de los Santos Ángeles Custodios is a Romanesque building that combines Lombard and Jaca architectural traditions.

Traditional architecture in Santa Cruz de la Serós includes slate roofs and large truncated-cone-shaped chimneys.

If you would like to examine the architecture more closely, you can compare the construction period, stylistic tradition, floor plan and roof shapes. For your own planning, these features can be noted separately and then compared with one another.

Pilgrimage History

The Camino de Santiago passes through the municipality of Santa Cruz de la Serós; however, a route through the town centre has not been documented.

The site of today’s Hostal Aragón, popularly known as Esculabolsas, was once home to a pilgrim hospital belonging to the nearby monastery of San Juan de la Peña, called Annol or Añol.

Those who consider pilgrimage history and sacred architecture together can organise the topics according to the building, pilgrim care and route.

Hiking

The S6 hiking trail connects Pradera de San Indalecio with Santa Cruz de la Serós and lies within the protected landscape of Paisaje Protegido de San Juan de la Peña y Monte Oroel.

The Senderos de Santa Cruz de la Serós trail network comprises 15 routes for different ability levels.

Stage 15 of the GR 17 passes through Binacua, joins the French Way of Saint James from the direction of Somport and ends shortly afterwards in Santa Cilia de Jaca.

Along its route, this stage descends towards Santa Cruz de la Serós.

For your planning, you can read the hiking information in three formats: a connection with a named starting point and destination, a network with different ability levels, and a stage with several links to the Way of Saint James. The named starting points, destinations and connecting points help you distinguish the options according to their respective format.

When choosing a holiday apartment in Santa Cruz de la Serós, compare travel dates, room category and cancellation conditions on the accommodation pages. Which of these details matters to you depends on your own travel plans.

Other places:Apiés, Castillazuelo, Villanúa, Monzón, Sieste, Binéfar, Secastilla, Villalangua

Nature

Part of the municipality of Santa Cruz de la Serós is designated as a ZEPA, meaning a Special Protection Area for birds.

If you would like to combine nature and physical activity, you can consider protection status, landscape context and trail options as separate thematic aspects alongside one another.

For the broader travel overview: Huesca.