GRAN HOTEL DE JACA
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Noviembre
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History

The Gran Hotel, a Jaca icon

ARCHITECTURE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY IN JACETANIA

Work of the Zaragoza architect Lorenzo Monclús Ramírez (who also held the position of municipal architect of Jaca), the Gran Hotel de Jaca, projected in 1956 and inaugurated in 1958, of which the original pillars that rise independent of the rest of the structure stand out, anticipating to the facade, to hold the large flight of the upper eaves.

The hotel was a milestone in the recent history of the city, comparable to the arrival of the railway or the establishment of the summer university. If the first contributed to its commercial boom and the second involved the international projection of the University of Zaragoza from Jaca, the new equipment evidenced the importance of the city as a holiday destination. Numerous postcards with images of it were published, becoming one more icon of the population.

FUNDAMENTAL MILESTONES IN THE HISTORY OF THE GRAN HOTEL DE JACA, SINCE ITS INAUGURATION

1958

At 2:30 p.m. on Friday, June 20, 1958, Mr. José Sinués, director of the Caja de Ahorros y Monte de Piedad de Zaragoza inaugurates the Gran Hotel de Jaca, in the presence of the bishop and the mayor of Jaca, Mr. Juan Laccase Laccase.

1982

Constitution of the company INHOJASA, which undertakes reforms in the hotel, increasing from 50 to 98 rooms.

1987 - 1988

The Jacetana company Promociones Rioja Aragón, chaired by Mr. Luis Marco, buys the company INHOJASA, incorporating all its workers. In 1988 it was expanded from 98 to 165 rooms.

1.995 - 2000

In 1995 INTURMARK (Marco Tourist Industries) was established for its management and in 2000 the renovation of the room furniture began.

2004 - 2007

The renovation of rooms is completed, as well as the installation of air conditioning (natural gas boilers + air conditioning).

2017

Renovation and re-decoration of rooms, reception and common areas.
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THE GRAN HOTEL AND JACA

Its history has its origin in the decade after the Civil War, and allows to illustrate not only the evolution experienced in this crucial period by the architects trained in the years immediately before and after the war, but also the change in the way of conceiving tourism in the Pyrenees and the hotel infrastructure that supports it, in a parallel way to that which occurred in the rest of the country. In this case not associated with sun and beach, but with a new activity: skiing, which began to be practiced in the nearby Candanchú .

A UNIQUE BUILDING

Each façade responds in a different way to its orientation: towards the north it presents elevations of small and orderly holes, minimizing thermal losses. The south façade has large windows in the winter gallery, so that the sun’s rays can be used in the colder months (currently this space is used as a hotel cafeteria).

The residential volume has an expressive elevation, in which large openings connect the rooms with asymmetrical triangular balconies, separated by slender stone pilasters, topped by a large eaves supported by powerful concrete braces, emphasized by its curved geometry, which allows make the most of solar radiation.

It is “built with materials from the country”: gray stone from the area, jaharrada walls with cement mortar painted white, Pyrenean pine carpentry. With the exception of the north facade of the dining room and kitchen, all the walls are made of a single material, stone or painted mortar, thus reinforcing the clarity of the approach. The stone walls have no windows, except for the south elevation of the winter gallery, or the south elevation of the residential volume.

In its design it shows “alpine connections”, the result of an investigation and search for references in collaboration with the then student Fernando García Mercadal, inspired by references to unique buildings in the Alpine town of Sauze d´Oulx, or Cervinia, interspersed with concepts of popular architecture of Jaca.

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PIONEER IN MOUNTAIN TOURISM

The initial project of the year 1948 was radically modified in the version presented in January 1958. It is not limited to replacing some severe forms with other plastic and suggestive ones, common in tourist buildings of the moment. In the bases of the 1947 competition, the requirement to be able to sectorize the hotel in winter was clearly indicated, due to the sharp decrease in the number of visitors. Now the situation is different: a new activity appears. Skiing gained an importance in 1955 that it did not have in the 1940s.

In 1945 the Escuela Militar de Montaña was founded, the year of the installation of the first mechanical lift in Candanchú . At the end of the 50s, the true popularization of the sport took place, at the same rate as the growth of said station, experiencing its peak from the following decade: in 1960 the Study for the tourist management of the Spanish Pyrenees was carried out, which has as a consequence the creation of stations Formigal (1964), Panticosa (1970) and Astún (1976).

THE GRAN HOTEL TODAY

The urban development of Jaca has left the Gran Hotel in a privileged central location, in front of the Calle Mayor (commercial axis of the city), as well as next to the Parque de la Constitución.

The Parque de la Constitución, designed by Lorenzo Moncús in his role as municipal architect, presents an evident harmony with the whole of the Gran Hotel, standing out among the parks and gardens of Jaca because it represents a green corridor that connects the center of Jaca with the glacis from the citadel and the promenade of the quarry, perimeter to the city. As a result of that connection, in some of our walks we can delight in seeing squirrels coming down from their trees to quickly cross in front of us.

This urban development of the city is also evident in the Grand Hotel, with the expansion of rooms in another annexed residential volume, with a more functional design (larger rooms), keeping the winter gallery for community use, totally open, with lounges and a bar where we can relax, in front of the large windows facing the pool and the hotel garden.

The Restaurant is currently another volume, in perfect harmony with the rest of the hotel complex, but with a certain independence and a door to the street, in front of the Paseo de la Constitución Park.

The current interior design of the building has been renovated by Room 1804 Desing, from the Proffetional group, combining the functionality of the current furniture with the architectural singularity of the original building.