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Huesca is the capital of the eponymous province that is the northernmost province in the autonomy of Aragón. The town sits at a short distance from the foothills of the Pyrenees. A couple of daily trains connect it with Zaragoza that is well connected with Madrid and Barcelona by high-speed trains. Some days, there is a direct high-speed (AVE) train from Madrid Puerta Atocha – Almudena Grandes Station. There, also, is a frequent (AVANZA) bus service that connects it in about an hour with the Zaragoza Delicias interchange (high-speed trains) station and a few busses a day connect it with Barcelona.



The town was a Roman Municipium and one of the most northern defended towns of Al Andaluz. A section of the Arab wall with one tower still stands. The Provincial Museum (no admittance charge) shows the history of the province. Among the art collection are paintings and drawings by Goya. This museum incorporates the remains of the palace of the Kings of Aragón (12th century). These include the chamber of the legendary of the Bell of Aragón.



In 1134, the younger brother of Alfonso I El Batallador, Ramiro, was elected king of Aragón. Ramiro II of Aragón had lived as a monk and became abbot of the Abbey of San Pedro el Viejo in Huesca. The Romanesque abbey from the twelfth century preserves its Romanesque cloisters. In a corner of the cloisters is the pantheon of Ramiro II and Alfonso I.



The Gothic cathedral of Huesca was built between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. It preserves remains of the Romanesque cloisters of an earlier adjoining structure.



The cathedral's main altarpiece is among the most important works of the Spanish Renaissance. Made in alabaster, it depicts the Passion of Christ.



Huesca's main post office is housed in a Modernist building that stands on a corner of the Coso Alto. The building combines elements of Aragonese Renaissance and Mudéjar styles. The Coso is the main shopping street that runs around most of the old town, where once stood the mediaeval walls.

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Jaca is a town in the province of Huesca. It is situated in the Pyrenees, ca. 70 kilometers north of the city of Huesca, and circa 30 kilometres from the Somport Pass between Spain and France. A couple of daily trains connect it via Huesca with Zaragoza that is well connected with Madrid and Barcelona by high-speed trains. There are frequent busses (AVANZA) that connect Jaca with Huesca. Some continue to the Zaragoza Delicias interchange (high-speed trains) station. Others connect at Huesca with busses to Zaragoza and Barcelona.



The city sits on a major pilgrim's route from France to Santiago de Compostela. This crosses the Aragón River just outside Jaca, where there is a mediaeval bridge. To protect the Pyrenean passes from Arab incursions, Charlemagne created the County of Aragón in the valley of the Aragón River. Over time, it became subordinate to the Kingdom of Navarra. In the eleventh century, it developed into the kingdom centred around Jaca that would become one of the two major powers that united into present-day Spain.



With the former episcopal see of Huesca remaining in Arab hands, Pope Alexander II conceded King Sancho Ramírez the episcopal see of Jaca. Construction of the cathedral started between 1077 and 1082. It is one of the first Romanesque cathedrals built in the Iberian Peninsula. Although it underwent changes in later centuries, it preserves much of its original structure.



The cloisters of the cathedral house the diocesan museum (closed on Mondays). It holds a very important collection of Romanesque murals. The murals were recovered from churches in the region and transferred to the diocesan museum of Jaca.



Situated in the Calle Mayor is the town hall with its Aragonese Renaissance façade.



At the end of the sixteenth century, King Felipe II of Spain ordered the construction of citadels to protect his country against French attacks. The citadel of Jaca, located just outside the historic centre is the best preserved of these citadels.



The post office is situated on the N330a main road, on the edge of the historic centre. I took the opportunity to buy some B-tariff (Europe) stamps and hand in my postcards.

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Whilst waiting for my high-speed train from Zaragoza Delicias to Calatayud, on my way from Jaca, the historic (1930s) Tren Azul pulled into the station. I noticed this train included a mail car.





I have no idea what the purpose of this mail car is. The train does not run according to a fixed schedule. Mail in Spain is transported either by road or air. Except for the high-speed network, the railways in Spain are not the most direct ways to move between towns, if towns are served by the railways at all.

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Calatayud

The town of Calatayud is located on the bank of the Jalón River, in the south of Zaragoza Province. Some of the high-speed trains that run between Madrid Puerta de Atocha – Almudena Grandes (1:30 – 2:00 hours) and Zaragoza – Delicias (0:20 – 0:30 hour) stations call at Calatayud. Beyond these stations, trains may call at several cities. It takes about 20 minutes to walk from the station to the historic centre.



Calatayud is about four kilometres from the Roman town of Bilbilis, the birthplace of Roman poet Martial. The name of the present town derives from the oldest remaining Arab fortifications in the Iberian Peninsula. The Qal'at Ayyub (citadel of Ayyub) was an eight-century citadel that was extended in the ninth century. The citadel had five castles located on hills overlooking the town. At the highest point stood the Castle of Ayyub, that is the best-preserved part of the citadel.



The judería (Jewish Quarter) of Calatayud was the second-largest in Aragón and almost as big and populated as that of Zaragoza. Its narrow streets preserve the remains of what was the main of several synagogues. This had separate entrances for men and women.



The town has two collegiate churches. The Royal Basilica – Collegiate of the Holy Sepulchre, originally, was built in the twelfth century. The present church dates to the early seventeenth century. It preserves remains of its Mudéjar cloister from the fourteenth century. It is the main temple of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre in Spain.



The collegiate church of Santa María la Mayor was first built on the site of the main mosque, in the twelfth century. The current church was built between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. It preserves several Mudéjar elements. The most visible are its 70-metres high octagonal tower and its apsis. The Mudéjar cloisters that house a museum of sacred arts are oriented towards Mecca. The church is part of the Aragonese Mudéjar that was listed by UNESCO as World Heritage.



Its main portal dates to the sixteenth century. It was executed in the Plateresque (Renaissance) style that mimics an altarpiece.



The town has a few more Mudéjar church towers. Among these is that of the Church of San Andrés that stood next to one of the entrances to the Jewish quarter.



A couple hundred metres outside the old town, in Calle Glen Ellyn (named after Calatayud's twin town in Illinois), is the post office. If I counted correctly, this is the 100th post office of which I posted a picture.

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Aigües Mortes, France

Feldkirch in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg sits on the Ill River in an Alpine valley, near its confluence with the Rhine. It borders on Switzerland and Liechtenstein (two to four busses every hour). Hourly direct Regiojet trains running through the Tirolean and Vorarlberg Alps between Innsbruck and Feldkirch connect it with Vienna in about seven hours. Trains continue to Bregenz (do spend the few euros on reserving a seat). A few continue to Zürich (this international airport is much closer but Swiss railways are extremely expensive). At the other end, some trains depart from or continue to Vienna Airport, Bratislava, or even Budapest. An alternative (just over four hours) would be to travel to Munich Airport and take a train to Bregenz or Lindau Insel and change there for Feldkirch (also nearly every hour). The main station is circa one kilometre from the old town.



Around 1200, Count Hugo I of Montfort built a hillside castle on a hillside overlooking the River Ill. On the bank of the river, below the castle grew the current town of Feldkirch. The current castle was built during the fifteenth century, after the original castle had been destroyed.



At the end of the fifteenth century, after the loss of their possessions in Switzerland, the Habsburg rulers of Austria reconstructed large parts of the town walls. These were demolished during the nineteenth century. Two of the four town gates and four towers of the wall remain. One of the gates is the Chur Gate that stood on the road to Chur in Switzerland.



Many old buildings of mediaeval origin, often with arcaded galleries, remain, especially in Neustadt and on Marktplatz. Some have sgraffito façades.



The tourist office, located near the bus station in the old town, is housed in the Palais Liechtenstein. The building replaces an older one destroyed during the 1697 town fire. The reconstruction in Baroque style was ordered by Prince Hans-Adam I of Liechtenstein.



Directly opposite the tourist office is a small phone shop with a post office counter. This sold cards of four self-adhesive stamps. The person helping me had no knowledge of postal tariffs. He had to check the tariffs for postcards sent to European countries, including Russia (€ 1,25) and countries in Asia and South America (€ 2). He did not even know he had a folder with the tariffs on the counter.



The range of available stamps did not even cover the latter tariff. The cheapest alternative was the use of two € 1.20 stamps, thus overpaying by € 0.40. Oh well, if it keeps the girls happy!

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Feldkirch Hauptbahnhof

There is a post office in front of the entrance to Feldkirch Hbf (Main Train Station). Between the train station and the post office is the main bus station. This has post office boxes.




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