Abbey of Santa Engracia

In the Synod of Jaca (1063), Bishop Paterno of Zaragoza, with express consent of its clergy, ceded to the bishopric of Huesca the monastery and church of Santa Engracia and Holy Mass.

An excavation in 1389 discovered the bodies Saint Engratia and Lupercus, in two niches within a mound of stone with their names inscribed which may have been placed there by Mozarabs who re-buried them again.

Devotion to the Saint Engratia increased as a result of the gratitude of King John II of Aragon "the Great" who attributed the healing of his cataracts to the miraculous nail of her martyrdom.

Collateral to the Agustin sepulcher was that of the famous writer and analyst Jerónimo de Zurita, whose epitaph read: The cloister had a grand gallery consisting of large columns of marble and ornate sculptures and paintings by masters of great merit.

All that remained was the famous façade of marble and alabaster whose Plateresque style appears to be work by Diego Morlanes, son of Juan, the original sculptor.

The abbey before its destruction. Drawing by Louis-François Lejeune .
Siege of Saragossa (1809) . Painting by General Louis-François Lejeune first published in 1809 in its work Assault to the Convent of Santa Engracia . This is located at the Versailles 's Museum and exposed the first time in the Hall at 1827. Here Lejeune expresses the terrible character of the war in Spain. On both sides of the abbey's "Mater dolorosa" statue, the French enter to the assault against guerrillas and Spanish friars.
Santa Engracia, the upper cloister. Drawing by Jenaro Pérez Villaamil and Alfred Guesdon in 1834. Most of this cloister survived the French Sieges (see last image).
The lower cloister of Santa Engracia before the French sieges. Painting by Louis-François Baron Lejeune.