HUESCA, one of the three provinces into which the old northern Spanish kingdom of Aragon was divided in 1833, is bounded on the N. by France, E. by Leridà, S. and S.W. by Saragossa, and W. and N.W. by Navarre. The total area is 7530 square miles. The surface is mountainous, especially in the north, which is occupied by the lofty offshoots of the Pyrenees, which there reach in Monte Perdido (Mont Perdu) the height of 11,430 feet. The chief river is the Cinca; but the want of natural streams has in some measure been made up for by a system of irrigation. Mineral springs are numerous throughout the province. The climate varies much according to the region; in the north cold winds from the snow-capped Pyrenees prevail, while in the south the warm summers are often unhealthy from the humidity of the atmosphere. The leading industry of Huesca is agriculture, although only a limited proportion of the soil is under cultivation. There is good summer pasturage on the mountains, where cattle, sheep, and swine are reared. The mountains are richly clothed with forests of pine, beech, oak, and fir, and the southern regions produce abundant crops of cereals, vines, mulberries, and numerous kinds of fruits and vegetables. The mineral resources include argentiferous lead, copper, iron, and cobalt, with limestone, millstone, gypsum, granite, and slate. The mining industry was formerly much more important, but the difficulties of transport caused by the absence of good roads have much hindered the development of this and other resources of the province. Huesca exports timber, cereals, wine, oil, and some cattle, and imports iron, flax, and colonial and foreign goods. The manufactures, which are unimportant, include brandy, wine, soap, linen, woollens, baize, and common crockery. The ...population in 1877 was 252,165.
Huesca, chief town of the above province, and the seat of a bishop, is pleasantly situated on an eminence commanding an extensive view over the surrounding fertile plain. It stands near the right bank of the Isuela, 35 miles north east of Saragossa. The town bears many traces of its antiquity. The streets in the older part are narrow and crooked, though clean, and many of the houses witness by their size and style to the former magnificence, and by their neglected and ruined aspect to the present decay of the place. The newer streets are wide, and the houses have some claims to regularity. There are several squares and plazas, in one of which rises the imposing Gothic cathedral, begun in 1400 and 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 Sertorio (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 archiépiscopal palace, the town-house, and various benevolent and religious houses. Huesca manufactures cloth, pottery, bricks, and leather. Its chief trade is in exporting fruit and cereals, and in importing linen, cloth, silk, hardware, and colonial produce. The population in 1877 was 7760.
Huesca is a very ancient town. Strabo (iii. 161, where some editors read Ileosca) describes it as a town of the Ilergetes, and the scene of Sertorius ’ s death; while Pliny places the Oscenses in regio Vescitania. Plutarch (toe. cit.) calls it a large city. Julius Caesar names it Vencedora ; and the name by which Augustus knew it, Urbs victrix Osca, was stamped on its coins, and is still preserved on its arms. It fell under Saracen rule; but in 1096 Pedro I. of Aragon regained it, after winning the decisive battle of Alcoraz, as the termination of the two years’ siege.
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