HUESCA (anc. Osca)

This article appears in Volume V13, Page 855 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: HOR-I25

HUESCA (anc. Osca) , the

capital

CAPITAL (i.e. capital stock or fund)
CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head)

of the Spanish province of Huesca, 35 M. N.N.E. of

Saragossa

, on the Tardienta-Huesca-Jaca railway. Pop. (19oo), 12,626. Huesca occupies a height near the right bank of the river Isuela, overlooking a broad and fertile plain. It is a very ancient city and bears many traces of its antiquity. 'I'he streets in the older part are narrow and crooked, though clean, and many of the houses

witness

WITNESS
WITNESS (from O. Eng. witan, to know)

by their size and style to its former magnificence. It is an episcopal see and has an imposing

Gothic

GOTHIC

cathedral

CATHEDRAL

, begun in 1400, finished in 1515, and enriched with fine carving. In the same plaza is the old palace of the kings of Aragon, formerly given up for the use of the now closed Sertoria (the university), so named in memory of a school for the sons of native chiefs, founded at Huesca by Sertorius in 77 B.C. (Plut. Sert. 15). Among the other prominent buildings are the interesting parish churches (San Pedro, San Martin and San Juan), the episcopal palace, and various benevolent and religious

foundations

FOUNDATIONS

. Considerable attention is-HUET 855
paid to public education, and there are not only several good primary schools, but schools for teachers, an institute, an ecclesiastical

seminary

SEMINARY (Lat. seminarium, from semen, seed)

, an artistic and archaeological museum, and an economic society. Huesca manufactures cloth, pottery, bricks and leather; but its

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

trade is in wine and agricultural produce. The development of these

industries

INDUSTRIES

caused an increase in the population which, owing to emigration to France, had declined by nearly 2000 between 1887 and 1897,
Strabo (iii. 161, where some editors read Ileosca) describes Osca as a town of the Ilergetes, and the scene of Sertorius's death in 72 B.C.; while Pliny places the Oscenses in regio Vescitania. Plutarch (loc. cit.) calls it a large city. Julius Caesar names it Vencedora; and the name by which

Augustus

AUGUSTUS (a name 1 derived from Lat. augeo, increase, i.e. venerable, majestic, Gr. Ee0avr6s)

knew it, Urbs victrix Osca, was stamped on its coins, and is still preserved on its arms. In the 8th century A.D. it was captured by the Moors; but in 1og6 Pedro I. of Aragon regained it, after winning the decisive battle of Alcoraz.

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