Maella - Priorato Santa Susana - Exterior

The Monasterio de Santa María de la Trapa de Santa Susana, known simply as Trapa de Santa Susana or La Trapa by local people, is a ruined

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

located close to road A-1411 north of Maella, close to Favara del Matarranya in

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. The monastery falls within the area of the Maella municipality, in what used to be known as ''Priorat de Santa Susanna de Maella'', es, Priorato de Santa Susana de Maella. The monastery passed through periods of splendor and decadence throughout its existence, and is now in ruins.

History

The original monastery was established in the 6th century by

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monks who, at some point in its first 600 years, rebuilt it with the help of the

Order of Calatrava The Order of Calatrava ( es, Orden de Calatrava, pt, Ordem de Calatrava) was one of the four Spanish military orders and the first military order founded in Castile, but the second to receive papal approval. The papal bull confirming the Orde ...

. This monastery was transferred by

James I of Aragon James I the Conqueror ( es, Jaime el Conquistador, ca, Jaume el Conqueridor; 2 February 1208 – 27 July 1276) was King of Aragon and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1276; King of Majorca from 1231 to 1276; and Valencia from 1238 to 1276 ...

to the

Cistercian Order The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint B ...

in 1227. The Cistercians then destroyed the building to erect a new monastery. In the 16th century, Miguel Pérez d'Almazán, Lord of Maella, tried to establish a village close to the monastery under the name Villanueva d'Almazán, but his project failed. At the time of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, some French

Trappist The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance ( la, Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a ...

monks were welcomed to the monastery and a thriving Trappist community became established in what became known as Trapa de Santa Susana. Despite the ravages caused by the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

, this community of monks flourished until the mid 19th century, when the

Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizábal {{Short pages monitor