Castle of the Luna Family

Anyone approaching Mesones de Isuela, in the Aranda district of the province of Zaragoza, sees it before anything else: the castle crowns a rocky hillock that rises above the village and still seems to keep watch over it. This is no ordinary fortress, for it ranks among the largest castles by area in the whole of Aragon, something you can fully appreciate as you walk its perimeter and take in the sheer size of the enclosure that occupies the summit.

Its documented history begins in 1175, when Sancha de Abiego gave it to the Knights Templar. This is the earliest surviving written record of the site, and with it the castle came under the sway of one of the most influential military orders of the Middle Ages. The Templars held it without interruption until the order itself ceased to exist, so for a long time this crag was one of their strongholds in Aragonese lands.

After the Templars, the fortress passed to the House of Luna, the lineage that would eventually give it the name by which it is known today. That is why people speak interchangeably of the Castle of the Luna Family or, more simply, of Mesones de Isuela Castle – two names that neatly sum up the two periods that shaped its past.

A visit therefore holds a twofold appeal. On the one hand, there is the experience of climbing to the top of the hillock and gazing out over the village and the valley spread out below. On the other, there is the chance to set foot in a place once trodden by warrior monks and by nobles bearing one of the most influential surnames in Aragonese history. Take your time, let yourself be impressed by the scale of the complex, and imagine the lives of those who lived in and defended it over the centuries.