Urgent transfer of the first kings of Aragon due to a fire

BarcelonaThe advance of the forest fire that broke out on Monday in Las Peñas de Riglos has led the government of Aragon to decide to transfer the osseous remains of the first Aragonese kings to the Museum of Huesca, due to the danger to the royal pantheon of the old monastery of San Juan de la Peña, and also to the new monastery, which was precisely built after a fire burned down the old one in the 17th century. The fire affects 8,000 hectares and has forced the evacuation of 900 people.

The operation took place on Thursday after a first unsuccessful attempt due to the proximity of the fire. As a preventive measure, the remains of Ramiro I (1035-1063), his son Sancho I (1076-1094), and his grandson Peter I (1085-1104), along with the remains of their relatives, have been transferred in transparent boxes. They are kings of the Crown of Aragon, which in 1137 united with the county of Barcelona through the marriage of Ramon Berenguer IV and the infanta Peronella of Aragon, niece of Peter I. Among the rescued objects are also paintings, jewels, replicas of the Holy Grail, and a military uniform of the Count of Aranda from the 18th century.

The remains of these 11th and 12th-century kings were located between 1984 and 1986 in very good condition. "Aragon is the only European kingdom that preserves its kings. There is no kingdom in Europe that has remains of its royal family from the 11th and 12th centuries," archaeologist José Ignacio Lorenzo Lizalde told El Mundo.