Roda de Isábena is a village in the municipality of Isábena, in the region of Ribagorza, in the province of

Huesca Huesca (; an, Uesca) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the autonomous community of Aragon. It is also the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and of the comarca of Hoya de Huesca. In 2009 it had a population of 52,059, al ...

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") , ...

It was the capital of the county of Ribagorza and site of a diocese, the reason why the Romanesque Cathedral of Roda was built between the 11th and 12th century. Located near the Isábena river, the county of Ribagorza was one of the founding domains from which was built the

Kingdom of Aragon The Kingdom of Aragon ( an, Reino d'Aragón, ca, Regne d'Aragó, la, Regnum Aragoniae, es, Reino de Aragón) was a medieval and early modern kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community eu, a ...

. The village of Roda rises over a mountain which dominates the access to the valley of Isábena. During the tenth century it was a fortified village which served as a vigilance point between the Muslim Taifa of Saragossa and the Christian county of Ribagorza, which would ultimately become part of the

Episcopal see

About the middle of the tenth century, Roda de Isábena became an episcopal see, with the inauguration of the Cathedral of San Vicente de Roda de Isábena, and the political capital of the county of Ribagorza. The removal of the see, first to Lleida and then to the

diocese of Barbastro-Monzón In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

reduced the importance of the locality. The Spanish '' desamortización'' (a long historical process in which "unused" territories, generally owned by the Church, were publicly

auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition e ...

ed) and the predation of the 20th-century art thief

René Alphonse van den Berghe René Alphonse van den Berghe ( Nivelles, 1940 – 19 June 2020), known as Erik the Belgian (Erik el Belga) in Spain, was a Belgian art dealer implicated in the theft to order of a large number of artworks from Spanish churches. Although Erik was ...

despoiled it of some of its rich cultural heritage.

Today

Nowadays, Roda has the distinction of being the smallest Spanish village with a (former) cathedral, and has a hotel in a 17th-century palace.Eastern Pyrenees Footprint Focus Guide: (Includes Barcelona & Perpignan) Mary-Ann Gallagher, Andy Symington, Dana Faracos 1909268070 2013 "This excellent hotel occupies a noble 17th-century palace in the heart of the town. Rooms have plenty of historic character, but modern conveniences include a spa complex. Roda de Isábena p56 Roda can get busy in summer at the weekends."

References

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