Monasterio de Rueda - Belchite - Carinena Wine tasting

Route: Zaragoza - Monasterio de Rueda - Belchite - Carinena Wine tasting - Zaragoza
Duration: 7 h
The first stop in our tour will be at Monasterio de Rueda. The royal Monastery ‘Nuestra Senora de Rueda’ is one of the top Cistercian monuments in Aragon. Its building works started around year 1022. Cister Order was founded as a regeneration in monastic life happened in 11th century, involving a strong religious and artistic effect. It intended to bring back to life St. Benedict rule’s spirit, work and prayer, Ora et Labora. King Alfonso II lent Cistercian monks the village and the castle of Escatrón in 1182. In 1238 the church was consecrated, but the monastery was ended at the end of 14th century or at the beginning of the 15th century, concluding the final stages in the temple and some rooms and particular spaces, typical in Cistercian buildings: converts facility, farm and craftwork areas, abbey palace…One of the essential traits of this monastery appears in the plumbing, possibly implemented from the start. Located by Ebro river, the small swamp and the massive wheel allowed bringing water to the monastery, which was distributed through channels all over the architectonical lay-out, key for watering functions, as well as for monks’ daily life.The next stop in the tour we will make in Belchite. The old Spanish town of Belchite found itself on the front lines between two armies and two ideologies during the Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939. Initially controlled by Nationalist army, the Republican army took Belchite after a siege lasting from August 24th until September 7th, 1937.  The Republicans held Belchite until Nationalist forces, then led by General Francisco Franco, retook it in 1938. Today Belchite looks largely as it did in 1939; piles of rubble strewn about, the clock tower barely standing, mudejar brick-and-arch work of some residences on display, the cathedral pockmarked with bullet holes and gouged by mortar shells. Franco intended the melancholy ruins of Belchite to serve as a monument to his ability to punish at will. It served as just that for over three decades until, as it is said, “the dictator died in bed.” What remains of Belchite stands not as an enduring mechanism of terror, as it was intended, but a testament to the human folly of war and the brutality of fascism. The last stop in the tour will be at Carinena which is the oldest town in the region of Aragon, as well as one of the oldest in Spain. It is an area with a long wine tradition that flourished under the protection of monasteries during the Middle Ages, but where some type of alcoholic beverage (probably mead) was already elaborated in the 3rd century BC. C., before being known by the Romans as Carae. Wine is the primary industry in Carinena, which ranks six in export volume among Spain’s wine regions. The Garnacha wines from the foothills of Carinena traditionally exhibit power, intensity and concentration, with flavors of cherries, flowers and herbs coupled with fine tannins.  During our stop in Carinena we will visit at the Carinena “Protected Designation of Origin” Museum and finish at the winery where, to top off the experience, there will be a wine tasting with two wines, one of them our Premium 3C Carinena so you too can share in the legacy of Carinena. After we will return to Zaragoza.
Price: Per person