Sigena / Sijena / Villanueva de Sigena / Villanueva de Sijena

Madoz (1845-1850), in his description of the interior of the monastery church, writes: "Un monumento barroco se presenta desde luego sobre la der[echa] [right, i.e., south]. en el crucero, cuya historia es mas interesante que su arquitectura. Allí yacen las dos hermanas Olivon, ambas prioras, promediando el siglo XVI. Encima de este sepulcro cuelgan en derredor algunos retablos sobre fondo dorado, que representan á los apóstoles, y que formarían parte del altar primitivo. Una antiquísima pila recuerda allí mismo los tiempos en que Sijena servia de parr[oquia] á los dependientes del monast[erio]" [cited in http://osmonegros.blogia.com/2011/101301-real-monasterio-de-sigena.php [accessed 4 September 2014]]. The very ancient font which Madoz [cf. supra] located in the south crossing of the monastery church was, in his words, a memory of the times when the conventual church serve the parrochial functions to those related with the monastery. We do not know where Madoz' information on the presence of the font came from; if the reference originated in the period after the ecclesiastical confiscations of Mendizábal, the notorious 'Desamortización Eclesiástica' of 1835-1837, the most likely time of its destruction or disappearance would have been the early weeks of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). There is no surviving record of its destruction or disappearance, nor have we found a description of it.