After the
Peace of Constantine an abbey was built over the tomb in the cemetery of the Martyrs. There are some who attribute its foundation to
Saint Paulinus during his pilgrimage to Zaragoza in 392. The monks may have initially followed the Rule of St. Augustine, before adopting the Benedictine Rule. The monastery flourished in 7th century; two illustrious prelates came from there:
Eugenius II of Toledo and John of Zaragoza.
Braulio of Zaragoza, succeeded his brother John and further supported and protected the abbey. The monks continued at the under Muslim rule. In the
Synod of Jaca (1063), Bishop Paterno of Zaragoza, with express consent of its clergy, ceded to the bishopric of
Huesca the monastery and church of Santa Engracia and Holy Mass. This was reiterated in a
bull in 1121 by
Pope Gregory VII. As a diocesan establishment the position filled by a prior for four centuries, took the name of archdeacon. and
Alfred Guesdon in 1834. Most of this cloister survived the French Sieges (see last image). An excavation in 1389 discovered the bodies
Saint Engratia and
Lupercus, in two
niches within a mound of stone with their names inscribed which may have been placed there by
Mozarabs who re-buried them again. Devotion to the Saint Engratia increased as a result of the gratitude of King
John II of Aragon "the Great" who attributed the healing of his
cataracts to the miraculous nail of her martyrdom. He bequeathed to his son
Ferdinand II of Aragon the obligation to restore the monastery. Ferdinand founded a monastery of
Hieronymite monks there. In 1493, Saint Engratia's day when the monks took possession and the divine services were held in presence of Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. The building was restored around 1755 by Biscayan architect Juan Morlanes, work financed by the payment of 2,500 ducats of Don Clemente Sánchez de Orellana y Riofrío, a native from the city of
Quito, which corresponded to a price established by the award of the Vicecounty of Antizana of (
750 ducats) and the Marquisate of Villa de Orellana of (
1,500 ducats) With the course of time much of the Gothic building was renovated but the primitive and modern all perished on the night of August 14, 1808 as a result of the terrible explosions that shook Zaragoza as the hosts of
Napoleon commenced a second siege. ==Architecture==