Since December 14, 2001, the Mudejar tower of Longares has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Declared a Historic-Artistic Monument in 1967, it was built on the site of a 12th-century Romanesque building. It is one of the most beautiful towers constructed in Aragon in the 16th century and also one of the few to have received artistic study and recognition.
Facing east, the exterior features a square Mudejar tower that could date back to around 1390. It consists of three sections with six levels. The lower section, like the second, is unadorned, but with the difference that it housed the clock, whose machinery is kept in the Chapel of San Pedro. The upper section is framed with four octagonal arches combined with cartouches and porcelain and glass inlays.
To the right and left of the tower are the only two entrance doors: one simple with a semicircular arch, and sheltered by a small atrium with a Baroque doorway at the rear, the other larger. The latter has a grille installed in the 18th century to prevent animals and other livestock from entering.
The façade features Aragonese arcades.
The church is elegant and very similar to the Lonja de Zaragoza and the Cathedral of La Seo. It belongs to the "Hallenckirchen" typology, which is the same as saying a hall-style church.
It is built on ringed columns and decorated with a Renaissance theme. The columns supporting the arches are made of stone, with elongated shafts and Ionic capitals. The vaults are adorned with ribbed vaulting and studded with rosettes at the crosses, the altar ones being gilded.
The church's construction was completed in three phases: first the central nave, and then the Epistle and Gospel aisles. The church always welcomed Christians and was never used for Muslim rites or masses.
Translated by Google •
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