Rueda Abbey

The monks of Gimont received a land grant in Burjazud (Villanueva de Gállego, north of Zaragoza), Spain in 1162 but the monastery was not built there.

This land was augmented by a grant from King Alfonso II of Aragon in 1182 to include the riverside steep castle and village of Escatrón, about 50 km south-east downstream from Zaragoza.

From the early founding the monks conducted important hydrological works including a dam on the Ebro and creation of a massive waterwheel or "rueda".

The waterwheel diverted some of the river flow to a Gothic aqueduct for distribution to various parts of the monastery; moreover, many of the water channels and plumbing uses are readily visible today.

As a result of the Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizábal of 1837 and 1838, lands and buildings belonging to the monastery were sold and the site was used for farming, with considerable destruction taking place.