Discover Salillas: Architecture and Festival Traditions

Salillas combines its setting by the Guatizalema with buildings from different periods and recurring local festival traditions. If you are planning a stay around your cultural interests, there are several specific themes to explore: a Renaissance church, a palacio built on the remains of an earlier castle, a historic ice house and the Ermita de San Felipe with its decorative paintings. Customs at Easter, as well as celebrations in May and July, are also part of the character of the town. Considering its location, architectural history and festival calendar helps you distinguish between its different cultural points of interest.

Location and orientation

Salillas is situated on the slope of a small rise above the Guatizalema River. The Pozo de Hielo is at the entrance to the town, on the A-1216 road. Nearby is a group of small bodegas dug into the rock on a hill beside the access road to the town centre. The Ermita de San Felipe is about 500 metres north of Salillas. These landmarks therefore have different spatial relationships: the town’s position above the river, the ice house at the entrance and the hermitage to the north.

Buildings and historical traces

The parish church of Santa Ana is a Renaissance building made of ashlar stone, dating from the mid-16th century. The Palacio de los Marqueses de Montemuzo stands on one side of the central square. It was built on the remains of an earlier castle, of which one tower survives. Its Renaissance façade bears the 16th-century coat of arms of the Pomar family. The Renaissance connection at Santa Ana and the palacio can be understood in different ways: as the church’s architectural style and as the palacio’s façade design, while the older castle complex and surviving tower are also part of the palacio’s history.

The Pozo de Hielo served a different architectural purpose. Its vaulted roof is supported by a central brick arch and three perpendicular ashlar arches. The ice house was used to store winter ice and snow for use during the summer months. It may date back to Moorish origins in the 15th century. The building’s form and former use give the ice house a different emphasis from the imposing façades of the church and palacio: here, construction and seasonal function go hand in hand.

The Ermita de San Felipe features extensive decorative paintings covering the entire vaulted ceiling. Salillas has also preserved its old Stations of the Cross. The buildings can thus be distinguished by their different features: Renaissance design and castle remains at the palacio, arches and former storage function at the ice house, and painted decoration in the hermitage.

Festivals throughout the year

Local traditions take place at different times of the year. At Easter, the Mayo is erected in the square in Salillas and taken down at the beginning of the Santa Ana festivities. The smaller festival in honour of San Felipe Neri takes place on 26 May; the main festival in honour of Santa Ana is held on 26 July. Bonfires are lit in honour of San Fabián, San Blas and San Sebastián, and Santa Águeda is also celebrated. Thus, a custom linked to Easter and two celebrations with specific calendar dates sit alongside other festival traditions. If you would like to plan your stay around a particular celebration, check the dates for your travel year.

Discover more destinations: Perarrúa, Buetas, Graus, Baldellou, Salas Bajas, Loarre, Aratorés, Igriés.

For the broader travel overview: Huesca.