The central tower of the highest part of the wall, constructed in the 16th century was re-erected in the 18th century and fitted out as an esconjuradero.

These were simple stone constructions that were common in the region, where there was an abject terror of storms. The buildings were usually at the top of a hill or mountain, almost always close to a church or chapel and had openings facing the four cardinal points. Their only function was as a place to “conjure away” storms that closed in on the village.

It was believed that these were caused by witches and there is testimony from people who have seen them fly on clouds as if directing them. It is said that inside every hail stone there is a witch’s hair. In records from the inquisition, the witch, Dominica la Coja, confessed to having conjured up a great hail storm, dancing, singing and urinating on the soil then snatching up the mud and launching it towards the sky.

At the beginning of the 18th century, the collegiate church had esconjuraderes, people who blessed the villages on a daily basis and kept clouds and storms at bay by ringing the bells in an appeal to Santa Barbara.
 

A house is more than a building; it is a home and it is everything. It brings together all those that live under its roof as well as the animals and the methods of food production, so housing agricultural work as part of its patrimony. Essential to his survival, man had to protect himself from the forces of evil and foster fertility in his animals and fields. This was achieved by attaching a wild boar’s foot or bird’s claw to the lintel or wooden door of his house. Sometimes it might involve the use of a snake skin, a wolf’s tail or thistle leaves.

The espantabrujas or “witch scarers” placed under the eaves or on the chimney prevented witches from entering the house.

Painting windows and openings with a blue coloured lime was common practice, which although in reality was a measure to control insects, was also considered a good defence against bad spirits because of its protective nature.

Door knockers in a phallic or animal shape (snake, lizard, fish etc.) attracted longed for fertility for the continuity and prosperity of the house.

Sometimes, the voussoirs of the porches were decorated with astral motifs relating to the sun, whose light and heat regenerated nature and ripened the harvest.

Virgins and Saints guarded the houses from all evil; in small chapels and vaulted niches of the houses’ walls and on door plaques they proclaimed “God Bless This House.”

On the façade of the Casa el Estanquero (now a hotel) there is a crest that dates back to 1784. It shows a tower with three storeys with an arm coming out of it that is holding something. Is it a head? Many people believe that to be so as it goes hand in hand with a legend that explains the conquest of the castle of Alquézar.

It is said that the King of the Moors subjected his subjects to constant abuse and to satisfy his whims he demanded that the most beautiful young virgins of the region be brought to him. And so it was that a brave young girl from the neighbouring hamlet of Buera decided to take the initiative; she would enter the castle alone and give a signal from the highest tower for the Christians to attack and defeat the inhabitants with ease.

Although it seemed like a mad idea, nobody could persuade the young girl from abandoning her plan. As night fell she dressed in her most seductive clothes, pinned her long fair hair with a pointed comb and presented herself at the castle to be offered to the king. He took no time in abandoning his wine for the beauty of the young girl. She let down her hair and as the king yielded to her beauty, she plunged the sharp comb into his heart. With his own sword she cut off his head and dangled it from the window.

Upon this signal, the Christians attacked the confused, leaderless Muslims who, seeing that they losing, decided to kill themselves. They covered their horses’ eyes and galloped over the edge of the cliff into the void below. It is said that some nights it is still possible to hear neighs and desperate shouts; the souls of the Moorish soldiers who died that night.

During many years the church bells fought off frosts, storms, droughts and witches, attracted the rain and encouraged the harvest. However, the bells of Alquézar’s collegiate brought rumours of ghosts, spirits and souls in turmoil.

It is said that a young man who worked there as the bell-ringer’s apprentice presented himself to the abbot of the Santa Maria church after hearing they were looking for someone to ring their bells.

As he arrived he saw the abbot who said to him “After the first night, we can talk in more detail.” There was nothing to tell him of the times of the masses or the type of prayers, but the apprentice was possessed with a great urgency to get to know the main bell of the abbey. On the point of opening the door to the bell tower, an elderly lady came to him and said, “Boy, keep away from the enchanted bell, it doesn’t like to be touched by human hands.” And with that she disappeared into the shadow of the side chapel. The young man smiled inside and took no notice of the old lady.

Hardly an hour had passed when he decided to get started with the chiming of the midnight bells but was amazed when a bell started to ring. It must be a huge bell judging by the roar that was heard. No, of course it couldn’t be a small bell being pushed by the wind, it was no other than the bell of the death throes calling for the dead.

His curiosity was stronger than the panic he felt, “Who was ringing the bell?” because there had to be someone. Was it the previous bell ringer, indignant and vindictive? Or maybe it was the abbot putting his skill to the test? The boy cautiously climbed the stairs that separated him from the bell tower and just as he arrived in sight of the bell, it started to ring once again. He had never heard such as sad peal of bells and at the same time so heartbreaking and violent!

But the worst of all was that there was nobody there. The candle blew out and the young man was faced with darkness as black as the night. A flutter of heavy robes brushed his skin and hot, foul breath made him shudder. Then he heard the ghost say, “In life I was the abbot of that abbey, devoted to the Lady whose name I am not worthy of saying….I sacrificed the last years of my earthly body suffering the hardest and most frightful penance….My soul had and still has no pardon. My sin was and wasn’t of body, and I will pay for eternity….That supernatural beauty arose before me without equal, and I still wonder why: who allowed it? Why did that appearance in my solitary cell cause my senses to stir and make me fall? With the body of an incorporeal fairy I had carnal thoughts on my sinful unconsciousness, captivated by deceitful charms, and now, and forever, and for the centuries of the centuries, I will give voice to my pain in the clapper of this bell, and my regretful crying will turn into tolling of the funeral mass...”

And after each phrase the bell rang time and time again. That same night the abbot with whom the boy had been speaking just a few hours before died.

Chema Gutiérrez Lera: Aragón: sus leyendas (1997)