Ansó. Tower (14th century)

Ansó is the archetypal Pyrenean frontier village. It was granted a series of special privileges by James I and James II of Aragon, which extended its lands to cover the frontier with the Bearn (France) from the so-called Table of the Three Kings to the Canfranc valley. Its remaining border with Navarre, established in the will of Sancho III el Mayor in the 11th century, was also a frequent source of conflicts. This strategic position led to the village’s defensive character. In 1323, the king ordered the Administrator of Public Property in Aragon to go to Ansó and decide on the best position for a defensive wall, after an incursion by Navarre which resulted in the destruction of the Celun castle, downriver from Ansó. The fact that no remains of this wall have been found leads us to believe it was never built.

The 15th and 16th centuries were times of great upheaval in Northern Aragon and a number of defensive towers were built, such as the tower referred to here which was built in the 14th century. It may have formed part of a defensive network, together with other towers which have since disappeared, the church itself which has suspiciously defensive arrow slits and machicolations and the rows of houses on the edge of the banks above the Veral and Arrigo rivers.

The tower has a cuadrangular base and is very tall. It dominates the access to the village from the east, in other words it was made as a defence structure against incursions from Navarre. Several sources indicate that Blanca II of Navarre may have been imprisoned here after being stripped of the throne. Although it is possible,the biography of this discredited queen only refers to her seclusion in Olite and imprisonment in the Moncada de Orthez tower. Blanca II of Navarre died in 1464 in Orthez and was buried in the royal pantheon of Lescar cathedral (Bearn), which makes the association with Ansó unlikely.

Anso Tourist Office . [ Jacetania ]