Sala de la Campana, Palacio de los Reyes de Aragón
Hidden inside the Palacio de los Reyes de Aragón — now home to the Diputación Provincial — is a single medieval room that most visitors to Huesca walk straight past: the Sala de la Campana, where the legendary 12th-century 'Bell of Huesca' story unfolded. It's one of Aragon's most visceral historical spaces.
The Legend of the Bell
King Ramiro II, a former monk dragged reluctantly to the throne, was mocked by his nobles for his weakness. He announced he would cast a bell so loud it could be heard across the kingdom — then summoned the most troublesome lords under that pretext and had them beheaded, using their heads as the bell and clapper. The story, possibly apocryphal, became the founding myth of Aragonese royal authority.
A 19th-century painting by José Casado del Alisal depicting the grisly scene hangs in the Museo de Huesca nearby, but standing in the actual room where it supposedly happened — a bare, vaulted medieval chamber — is far more affecting.
Visiting the Palace
The Palacio adjoins the old university building on the Plaza de la Universidad, a handsome arcaded square that is itself worth lingering in. Access to the Sala de la Campana is free and usually possible during office hours — ask at the Diputación reception.
Combine it with the Museo de Huesca next door, which occupies the remaining palace rooms around a beautiful Renaissance octagonal courtyard and displays the Casado del Alisal painting in its full dramatic scale.
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