HUESCA

provincia, in the comunidad autnoma (autonomous community) of Aragon, northeastern Spain. It is bordered east by Lrida province, south and west by Zaragoza province and Navarre autonomous community, and north by France. In the north Huesca province includes the highest point in the Pyrenees, Aneto Peak (11,168 feet ). Above 8,000 feet (2,440 m) there is alpine vegetation, giving way at lower elevations to fir and pine, then to beech, chestnut, and oak. This isolated, sparsely settled region provides summer pasturage for livestock. The Ordesa and Mount Perdido National Park, on the border with France, has magnificent mountain scenery and woodland. The sierras and valleys of the Pyrenean foothills lead into the irrigated fertile southern plains of the Cinca, Flumen, and Ebro river valleys, where an agricultural economy predominates, producing olives, sugar beets, grain, and vegetables; pig raising is also important. The provincial capital, Huesca (q.v.) city, has limited industry. The cities of Monzn and Sabinigo have chemical and metallurgical plants. Hydropower for the Barcelona grid, mainly from the Cinca river system, is significant. The energy resources of the province were enlarged by the discovery in 1979 of natural gas at Sabinigo. Area 6,037 square miles (15,636 square km). Pop. (1994 est.) 206,976. city, capital of Huesca provincia, in the comunidad autnoma (autonomous community) of Aragon, northeastern Spain. It lies northeast of Zaragoza, in the region known as Hoya de Huesca, which is dominated by the Sierra de Guara to the north and is watered by the Flumen River. The city originated as Ileosca, capital of the Vescitan, an ancient Iberian tribe; as Osca (Urbs Victrix), it was the site of an important Roman mint. It later fell to the Visigoths and Moors and was recaptured by Peter I of Aragon in 1096. It served as the capital of Aragon until 1118. A university, founded there in 1354 by Peter IV, was closed in the 19th century. Huesca has many notable buildings. The Church of San Pedro el Viejo, begun about 1134 and completed in the 13th century, is the burial place of the kings Ramiro II and Alfonso I the Battler of Aragon. Huesca Cathedral, begun in the late 13th century on the site of a pagan temple and of a later mosque, was completed in 1515. Other notable old buildings include the town hall in the former Convent of St. Francis (pre-13th century) and the episcopal palace, built in the Mudjar (Christian-Islamic) style. The College of (Colegio de) Santiago, founded in 1534, houses the provincial archives and museum of fine arts. The Royal Palace (Palacio Real), ancient residence of the kings of Aragon and former fortress of the Moorish walis (rulers), was reconstructed in 1845 to hold the university and later given to the Institute of Intermediate Education. The Church of San Miguel was founded in 1110 by Alfonso I; near it is the only tower still standing of the 99 that formed the city's defense works, some of whose walls also remain. There is little industry apart from local handicrafts and the manufacture of agricultural machinery. Pop. (1994 est.) 45,515.