From towns like Chalamera or Ontiñena, it's just over 30 minutes away by car.
The Charterhouse of Las Fuentes has gone from being abandoned to a treasure . Although most of its visitors are from Aragon, this monument in the Monegros region, owned by the Provincial Council of Huesca, receives relatively frequent foreign tourists from the most remote corners of the world, such as Australians, Filipinos, Japanese, and Chinese . Since guided tours began in 2015, the average number of visitors per year has reached 7.000, but an increase is expected; precisely because more and more areas within the monastic complex have been restored, and of course, because of its mural paintings.
It is located next to the Bajo/Baix Cinca region , just over 30 minutes from Chalamera or Ontiñena, about 45 minutes from municipalities such as Ballobar or Belver de Cinca, about an hour traveling from Zaidín or Fraga and a little longer from Torrente de Cinca or Mequinenza, the southernmost municipality in our region.
The Charterhouse of Our Lady of the Fountains is a unique place , of course due to its architecture of almost 6.000 square meters built, but above all because of the mural paintings of Fray Manuel Bayeu , Goya's brother-in-law, which are estimated to add up to at least 2.000 square meters on the walls and ceilings of the convent church, cloister of chapels and other dependencies.
Its restoration is proving to be an investment that is beginning to bear fruit. The scaffolding no longer covers the interior of the church. Two years of arduous work have resulted in the paintings in the nave, the gallery, the transept, and the apse now open to the public. During the restoration, a significant discovery was made: one of the most deteriorated canvases confirms the close professional relationship between the artist and his brother, Francisco Bayeu, court painter to Charles III, and his brother-in-law, Francisco de Goya.
Currently, work is focused on the cloister and chapels, protecting the monument from below and preventing the groundwater from damaging the walls. The deterioration and almost poetic ruin are giving way to the restoration of the monument's splendor. As Laura Puyal, an architect with the Provincial Council of Huesca (DPH), explains, "First, we protect the architectural surroundings of the paintings, and then we restore them, because they have deteriorated significantly over time." Puyal encourages everyone to visit the Charterhouse of Las Fuentes because " we are adding new areas to the public, and you will see continuous changes ."
José Miguel Pesqué, coordinator of the activities, concludes that "the prospect is that not only will the number of visits increase, but also the use of the spaces of the Carthusian monastery, which will happen in about 4 or 5 years when we have the services and infrastructure sufficient to be able to host different events."
It's worth noting that the guided tours are free and take place twice a day on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays, at 11:00 AM and 12:30 PM. Reservations can be made through the website www.dphuesca.es
