Cistercian Monastery and Calatayud DO Wine Museum

The Cistercian monastery of Piedra dates from the 13th century: its church was consecrated in 1218. With the park ticket you visit it at your own pace, with panels and QR codes at every point: the cloister, the chapter house, the old abbey, the Baroque altar, the refectory with a replica of the Reliquary Triptych, the warming room, the convent kitchen with the story of chocolate, the carriage hall and the monks' old cellar, now the Calatayud DO Wine Museum.

History

In 1186, Alfonso II of Aragón and his wife Sancha of Castile gave the castle of Piedra to the monks of Poblet to found a monastery. On 10 May 1194 twelve monks set out from Poblet with their first abbot, Gaufrido de Rocabertí. After several temporary sites, among them Piedra Vieja, built of wood and adobe, work began on the permanent monastery in 1203, and on 16 December 1218 the community moved into it. It was built in the transition from Romanesque to Gothic, in the sober, luminous Cistercian style.

The monks lived here for a little over 600 years. After the War of Independence and the Liberal Triennium, Mendizábal's confiscation of church property in 1835 ended the community. In 1843 Pablo Muntadas Campeny bought the buildings, and his son Juan Federico Muntadas turned the orchard into a garden and the outbuildings into a hotel and spa. The abbey church is in ruins today because of those years of neglect. The complex has been a National Monument since 1983, now an Asset of Cultural Interest.

Wine and chocolate

Wine has been made in the area since the 2nd century BC, and in the late 13th century it was the monks of Piedra who encouraged the planting of vines here. That is why their cellar houses the Calatayud DO Wine Museum, part of the Calatayud Wine Route.

The convent kitchen tells the story of chocolate at Piedra. According to tradition, a monk brought cocoa from America and it was first cooked here in Europe, in the mid-16th century; it is documented that by the 18th century it was already a regular part of the diet of the monks and their guests.

Opening hours

From 10:00 to 18:00, with last entry at 17:45; from 10 November to 6 January, last entry at 17:30. As it closes later than the park, do the park in the morning and the monastery last thing. You cannot eat or drink inside, and animals are allowed only in a carrier or backpack. The night visit to the cloister, the church, the keep and the Gayarre cross is only for guests of the Hotel Monasterio de Piedra.

Afterwards, if you have time left, the collegiate church of Calatayud rounds off the day with some Mudéjar art.