Pertusa
Camino Catalán por San Juan de la Peña
HuescaAragón
Toponym from the Latin pertusa ('pierced, traversed'), description of the calcareous landscape eroded by the Alcanadre.
Evolution of the name
- pertusa Latin 5th–9th centuries
- Pertusa medieval Aragonese from the 11th century
Reflections, to the letter
Lean out over the gorge at the village's feet: the river Alcanadre has bored through the limestone until the rock stands pierced clean through. That is Pertusa, from the Latin pertusa, 'perforated'. The name describes neither houses nor towers but the drilled stone they rest on. To look down at the deep meander is to read the place name aloud.
Glossary
- Fortified church
- Medieval architectural typology of parish churches with integrated defensive function, characteristic of frontier zones reconquered between the 11th and 14th centuries. They combine worship (nave, apse) with castral elements (keep, battlements, arrow slits). Aragón preserves a dozen fortified churches in the Hoya de Huesca and the Somontano.
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Camino Catalán por San Juan de la Peña