Church of Santa María la Mayor

Anyone visiting Uncastillo, in the heart of the Cinco Villas district, should set aside a good while to pause before the south portal of Santa María. Its archivolts bring together one of the most remarkable collections of sculpture in Aragonese Romanesque art, a work attributed to the Master of Oloron, and they are well worth exploring at a leisurely pace, figure by figure, to appreciate the richness of a first-rate workshop.

This sculptor's work is not confined to the main entrance. It pays to walk around the building and look closely at the corbels of the apse, those pieces supporting the eaves which in Romanesque architecture often became little showcases of imagination. The tympanum above the doorway of the porch on the west front and other parts of the walls also preserve reliefs that complete the church's decorative scheme.

The history of the site goes back further than its fabric suggests. The present church was built between 1135 and 1155 on the remains of a 10th-century Mozarabic church, and its construction was undertaken by King Ramiro II of Aragon. That royal patronage goes a long way towards explaining the ambition of the ensemble and the quality of its decoration.

For centuries it was Uncastillo's principal church, and for a time it even held the status of collegiate church, which gives an idea of how important it was in the religious life of the area. Today it remains the town's finest calling card and an essential stop for any lover of medieval art travelling through the lands north of Zaragoza.