The full name of San Ramón del Monte, or St. Ramon of the Mountain (1067-1126) was Raimundo Guillermo.  The celebrated Patron and Bishop of Barbastro was born into a noble family in Durban on the French side of the Pyrenees.  As a young man he enjoyed a good education and followed a military career for a short time before abandoning it to pursue a life of prayer and study.

In 1104, King Alfonso “The Warrior” informed him that he was to take over the bishopric of the diocese of Barbastro, which at the time was being heavily disputed by Bishop Odón of Urgell and Bishop Esteban of Huesca.  At first he resisted but eventually accepted the position and went on to be highly acclaimed by the city.

San Ramón suffered greatly when, years later, he was forced to leave the city of Barbastro and abandon a diocese that spread between the rivers Cinca and Alcanadre.  His departure took place in 1116 when the bishop of Huesca had him exiled in order to pursue his own interests. 

Tradition says that he left Barbastro from a place known as Rioancho (today the location of Calle General Ricardos), crossed the River Vero and took a small mountain path that today leads to a chapel dedicated to his memory.  Arriving at the top of the hill he looked back over the city he loved, started to cry and then blessed the city through his tears.  During his flight it is said that he performed a number of miracles.  In the autumn of 1119 San Ramón returned to Aragon to take up the role of Bishop of Roda de Isábena.

With the aim of winning back his diocese in Barbastro, San Ramon gained the favour of King Alfonso by accompanying him to Andalucia to free the Christians as part of the conquest of Granada.    However, the expedition sapped his strength and he arrived back in Huesca a sick man, eventually dying there on 21^st June 1126.  His body was moved to the church-cathedral of Roda de Isábena, where it was buried a few days later.

The feast of the patron saint of Barbastro, San Ramon del Monte is celebrated every year on the 21^st June.

San Josemaría was born on 9th January 1902 in the place now occupied by the Centro Entrearcos in Barbastro’s market square. Born into the bosom of a deeply Christian family, he was the second of six children; three of his four sisters died when they were young.

After the bankruptcy of his father’s business the family moved to Logroño and it was here that San Josemaría received his calling and began studying to become a Roman Catholic priest. Following the advice of his father, he also studied for a degree in civil law at the University of Zaragoza. He was ordained a priest on 28th March 1925.

In 1927 he moved to Madrid to study for a Doctorate in Law. During a prayerful retreat, God showed him his mission and eager to do God’s will, he founded Opus Dei on 2nd October 1928. From that day onwards he poured all his efforts into the development of the foundation that had been inspired by God, as well as continuing with his pastoral duties. He was in contact with the poor and the sick on a daily basis through his work in the hospitals and slums of Madrid.

At the break out of the Spanish civil war, Josemaría was still in Madrid and was forced to find refuge wherever he could as a result of religious persecution. He carried out his duties surreptitiously until he was eventually able to leave the city. He crossed the Pyrenees into France and then headed to the Spanish city of Burgos. When the war ended in 1939 he returned to Madrid.

In 1946 he moved to Rome, where he obtained a doctorate in theology from the Lateranense University. He was appointed Consulter to two Vatican Congregations, was made an honorary member of the Pontifical Academy of Theology and made a domestic prelate by the Pope Pius XII. He continued with sessions of the Second Vatican Council and forged intense relationships in many European countries in order to boost the establishment and consolidation of the Opus Dei movement. He also made many trips to the Iberian Peninsula, South America, Mexico and Guatemala between 1970 and 1975 with this same aim.

He died in Rome on 26th June 1975. Thousands of people, including one third of the world’s bishops, solicited the Vatican to begin the process of canonization.

On 17th May 1992, John Paul II beatified Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer in St Peter’s square in Rome in front of 3000,000 people. His first successor, Monseñor Álvaro del Portillo was present as Opus Dei prelate.

On 20th December 2001, the current prelate Bishop, Javier Echevarría, gave a lecture to the Congregation for the Causes in which he included the miracle performed by San Josemaría, a major step on the road to canonization, which eventually took place on 6th October 2002.At the end of 2001, the Diocese of Barbastro put forward a motion for the construction of a temple in memory of one of the city’s most influential citizens; the first in Spain to be dedicated to the founder of Opus Dei. Barbastro now boasts a magnificent church in his name. The layout is that of a fan, with the altar located at the apex. The shape of the roof is reminiscent of a dove (representing the Holy Spirit) and is crowned by a 31 metre slanting tower, which represents the finger of God. The architect, Heliodoro Dols, used copper to cover the tower and roof to make a reference to divinity.

Félix de Azara (1742-1821) was born into an illustrious family in the village of Barbuñales and went on to become famous as a soldier, naval officer, engineer, explorer and the most important naturalist of his era. His travels as a soldier took him to South America where his interest in the environment around him first began. He took daily interest in the changes in the sky, noted down geographical data and took great care of the plants, animals and peoples of those distant lands. Although he was self-taught, his theories were a direct precedent of those presented by Charles Darwin in his book, “On the Origin of Species”. Around the year 1815 he retired to this house where he revised some of his written work from his travels through the Americas.

Although Felix was the most prominent member of this illustrious family as a renowned soldier, engineer, naturalist, explorer and scientist, his brothers and sisters were also highly regarded. Eustaquio was bishop of Ibiza and Barcelona; Lorenzo was professor of Huesca university and dean of the city council and Mateo worked as auditor for the Barcelona Assembly. Mariana gave birth to Eusebio (Minister of State) Dionisio (a cardinal) and Anselmo (a famous sailor.) Another brother, José Nicolás was probably the most astute diplomat in the whole of Europe.

José Nicolás de Azara (1730-1804) is recognised as being one of the bravest diplomats of Kings Carlos III and Carlos IV. He was friends with no less than four popes, ambassador in Napoleon’s court, patron of the painter, Anton Raphael Mengs and was acclaimed in Rome for his efforts to protect the city from the threat of the Napoleonic armies.

Upon his retirement to Barbuñales he wrote;

“ …I am slowly falling in love with this country and this life. I eat and sleep with a calm I have never known and take magnificent walks, almost always on our own land. Around a mile from our house we have one of the oldest estates in Aragon, Lizana, where there are olive groves, fulling mills, farms and many sheep. I left here so small that no-one remembers me. If I can collect the antiquities that I left behind in Italy this will be my final resting place, because the sky is much closer to Barbuñales than to Paris or Madrid.” 17th May 1800.
José Nicolás de Azara, first Marquis of Nibbiano, died in Paris in 1804 and his remains rest in the parish church of Barbuñales. The hearse that carried his body to his final place of burial still stands on the patio of the Azara family house.

A lo largo de la historia, la Comarca de Somontano de Barbastro ha dado un buen número de hijos ilustres de trascendencia regional y nacional pero alguno de ellos también con proyección internacional.

Estos personajes célebres destacaron en todas las facetas sociales como la naturaleza, la politica, la medicina, la literatura, la historia, la milicia, la religion...

Conoce Guara Somontano a traves de sus personajes históricos más destacados.