A marvellous Cistercian jewel
The Royal Monasteryof Santa María de Veruela is in the town of Vera de Moncayo, in the province of Zaragoza (Aragon-Spain). It’s the first Cistercian monastery which was founded in Aragon in the year 1145, and took 200 years to complete the construction,so here we can distinguish different eras in its architecture.
I recommend that you visit it, it is worth it. I left the centre of the village and went on foot (about 1 Km) on a beautiful walk which takes you to the monastery and by its beauty prepares you for what you are about to see.
In the monastery the highlight is the cloister of the XIV century, the very beautiful abbey church of Santa María with its fabulous Romanic entrance of the XII century; the abbots palace of the XVI century, the kitchens of the XIII century; the chapter house with outstanding beauty of the XIII century, the Torre del Homenaje and the XIII and XIV century walls which surround the monastery… The complete site is extraordinary, in every corner you can appreciate the importance and power which it had in its time.