Rueda Abbey
Monasterio de Rueda
The monastery of Nuestra Señora de Rueda is an abbey belonging to the Cistercian order located in Sástago, Aragon, Spain.
The origin of the Rueda Monastery begins in 1182. King Alfonso II of Aragon gives the castle and town of Escatrón, Zaragoza, to the monks. It is a location on the banks of the Ebro, in accordance with the Cistercian spirit, endowed with territory to be colonized, where they will arrive from 1202 to found the current monastery.
Shortly after, the works that will last for several centuries will begin, suffering the economic ups and downs of the Kingdom of Aragon and the monastic community in particular. After the previous steps to the definitive installation of the monks in Rueda, the construction activity was going to develop throughout the 13th century in its fundamental areas. In 1238 the church was consecrated, and in 1292 privileges related to the extraction of stone and wood for the work will still be confirmed. But until the second half of the fourteenth century and the beginning of the fifteenth, the whole of the medieval factory with the last phases of the church cannot be considered closed.
From the first moments of the construction of the monastery, the hydraulic infrastructure works also began. They consist of the weir and the waterwheel or wheel that raised the water from the river to the Gothic aqueduct, partly visible and partly underground, which distributes the water throughout the monastic complex following the provisions of the Order.