Ciudadela

Aragón


Jaca's large, star-shaped citadel, built in the 1590s to defend against possible French invasion, is surrounded by an equally star-shaped moat inhabited by a herd of deer. Inside, you can explore the bastions, casemates, powder magazines and chapel as well as the broad central Patio de Armas.

The citadel also hosts the surprisingly good Museo de Miniaturas Militares (www.museominiaturasjaca.es), a model soldier museum with detailed battle scenes providing a visual military history lesson from Hannibal's elephants to Franco's fascist tanks.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Aragón attractions

1. Museo de Miniaturas Militares

0.05 MILES

The thought of a model soldier museum might not sound particularly enticing to anyone over the age of 10, but think again. The detailed battle scenes…

2. Museo Diocesano

0.15 MILES

The star turn of the excellent Diocesan Museum (accessed from inside the Catedral de San Pedro) is a collection of Romanesque and Gothic art rescued from…

3. Catedral de San Pedro

0.16 MILES

Jaca’s 11th-century cathedral is a formidable building, typical of the sturdy stone architecture of northern Aragón. It was once more gracefully French…

4. Torre del Reloj

0.27 MILES

Chunky gothic tower built in 1445 that once served as a prison, hence its alternative name: Torre de la Cárcel.

5. Ermita de Sarsa

0.39 MILES

This tiny 12th-century Romanesque chapel was actually moved here in 1972 from an abandoned village at the foot of Peña Oroel, the mountain that looms to…

6. Monasterio de San Juan de la Peña

7.31 MILES

The road from Santa Cruz winds 7km up to the 10th-century Monasterio Viejo, tucked protectively under an overhanging lip of rock. A fire in 1675 led the…

8. Estación Internacional de Canfranc

12.52 MILES

The magnificent, 250m-long, Modernista structure of Canfranc station stands as a monument to a trans-Pyrenean railway that has lain idle for half a…

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