A characteristic national artistic style is Mudejar art, which has its own category in Aragon and a unique character in Zaragoza. But what is Mudejar?

To know the origin of this concept we must go back to the Islamic presence in the Iberian Peninsula, starting in the year 711, and to the slow Christian reconquest of the peninsular territory, which would culminate in 1492 with the conquest of Granada.

The political, social and cultural panorama resulting from this turbulent time, characterized by the diversity of cultures, laid the foundations for the birth and development of Mudejar art.

The origin of Mudejar art

The Mudejar concept refers, precisely, to the Muslims culturally assimilated in a Spain in which Christianity had recovered total control of the territory. In this context of orientalist cultural heritage, Christians were fascinated by the beauty of the Islamic monuments of the conquered cities. The great Muslim fortresses were transformed into beautiful palaces for the Christian kings and the aljama mosques were purified and consecrated as cathedrals and churches.

Thus, Mudejar art was born, which can be defined "as the result of the confluence of two artistic traditions, Islamic and Christian, which gives rise to a new and different artistic expression." This is why this unique art is considered “the most genuine artistic expression of medieval Spain, a melting pot of three cultures.”

Zaragoza, city of four cultures

Zaragoza, city of the four cultures – Roman, Muslim, Jewish and Christian – is a great exponent of Aragonese Mudejar art. Among the streets of its historic center, the bell towers of smaller churches emerge, decorated with geometric mosaic motifs characteristic of this unique style.

Cathedral, symbol and melting pot of cultures

But the Zaragoza Mudejar style is mainly identified by one of the city's greatest treasures, the cathedral or Seo del Salvador. It is the first cathedral in Zaragoza, witness to the historical evolution of the city. Under its walls rest the foundations of the main Roman temple of Caesaraugusta and the later Aljama Mosque of Saraqusta.

This emblematic historical symbol of the city is today the main reflection of Zaragoza's Mudejar art, represented in the exterior decoration of its parish church, its dome and the main minaret of the old mosque, today transformed into a baroque style bell tower.

Luna's legacy.

Among the decorative motifs of the beautiful exterior wall of the parish of San Miguel Arcángel we find a unique symbol, which identifies the beauty of this work with the city of Zaragoza. Among its incised geometric shapes, which create small stars decorated with beautiful green and mother-of-pearl ceramics, a unique motif hides. It is a crescent, symbol of Don Pedro de Luna, who was Pope Benedict XIII and archbishop of Zaragoza, today buried inside the Parish Church.

With his patronage and his emblem integrated into one of the most beloved faces of the city, “Papa Luna” claimed his status in the city of Zaragoza and was a participant in its history through the conservation of its Mudejar legacy, declared World Heritage. Humanity by UNESCO.