Canfranc International railway station  

"At Zaragoza a few wide avenues have been cut through the labyrinth of tortuous streets, but the other towns of the province have preserved their physiognomy of former days. Jaca, in the upper valley of the Aragon, between the Pyrenees and the Sierra de la Peña, with its grey houses, still retains its turreted walls and ancient citadel. It is the old capital of the kingdom of Sobrarbe, but would hardly be mentioned now if it were not for its position at the foot of the Pass of Canfranc, and the neighbouring monastery of La Peña. Huesca, at the base of the hills, the Osca of the Romans, recalls the dominion of the Ausks, or Euskarians. Standing in the midst of an irrigated plain, it still enjoys a certain importance. It boasts of a richly decorated cathedral, deserted monasteries, an old royal palace now occupied by the university, and the remains of a turreted wall. Barbastro, near the river Cinca, occupies a position similar to that of Huesca. The carriage road over the Somport connects it with France."--The Earth and Its Inhabitants (1875–1894) by Élisée Reclus