The Palace of the Counts of Morata or Luna is one of the most emblematic and unknown buildings of sixteenth Century Aragon. Its construction was ordered around the year 1551 by Pedro Martinez de Luna, first Count of Morata and Viceroy of Aragon, and his wife, Lady Ines de Mendoza. This Palace-house is the work of the architect Martin Gaztelu de Tudela, who was employed by the Counts to carry out the construction on a piece of their land, situated on the outskirts of the Roman “Caesar Augusta”.

With the passing of time the Palace became the property of other noble families, being finally donated to Philip V in 1728, who made it the official residence of his family when they were staying in Saragossa, and being occupied by his representative when he was not visiting. This meant that as from that moment the Palace became the Captaincy General of Aragon and residence of the Captain Generals.

At the beginning of the nineteenth Century, due to the events of the time, the palace gained a new and distinguished occupant. The young military officer José Palafox, son of the Marquises of Lazan, was named Captain General of Saragossa. The Palace was occupied by the national troops under General Palafox, and they remained there until the French occupation of Saragossa. With the entry of the foreign army, the palace again changed occupant, and it was the General in Charge of the French troops, Mariscal Jean Lannes, who would occupy the palace until their withdrawal. It was in 1814, when the French troops left Spain, that the Palace of the Counts of Morata was converted into the seat of the Territorial High Court of Aragon, with this designation being ratified on the 2nd of November, 1825, by King Fernando VII, and which is still maintained today.

During the first third of the twentieth Century, the Palace underwent extensive alterations, carried out by the architect Regino Borobio, under the auspices of Galo Ponte y Escartín, Minister of Grace and Justice during the reign of Alfonso XIII. In 1931, by decree of the 3rd of June, the Government declared the Palace of the First Count of Morata a National Monument.

Subsequently, and in spite of the numerous reforms that were introduced into the Administration of Justice with the Decrees of the New Plan, the Palace of the Counts of Morata remained faithful to its destiny and in 1870, after the constitution of the Territorial High Courts, the first president for that of Aragon was named: Eugenio Angulo (1870 to 1872). The Palace of the Counts of Morata carried on being the seat of the Territorial High Court of Aragon until the 28th of December of 1988, when the new Law of Demarcation and Judicial Plan (38/1988) established the High Courts of Justice as the judicial organs with the highest authority in the Autonomous Communities. Thus, on the 23rd of May of 1989, date of the Constitution of the High Court of Justice of Aragon, the Territorial High Court ceased to exist and thePalace of the Counts of Morata became the seat of the High Court of Justice of Aragon.

Work of the architect Martin Gaztelu de Tudela, its lower section was built of stone (from Epila and Rueda) and its upper section of brick, with two towers topping its sides. From the architectural point of view the Palace belongs to the Aragonese Renaissance and, at first sight, the most outstanding feature is the entrance doorway, with its semicircular arch flanked by two large statues, popularly known as “the giants’ doorway”. These two somewhat mysterious figures appear to be representations of Hercules (on the right) and Theseus (on the left).

The existing frieze on the upper part of the main door has been the cause of controversy as to its interpretation, as for some, it represents the entrance of Caesar Augustus into the City, while for others, it bears relation to the entrance of Pope Benedict XIII, who was a close relative of the Counts of Luna. This building, historically linked to the task of imparting justice, has an interior arcaded patio sustained by fourteen columns and in the upper section of the arcades, on the outside, it is girdled by fifty-six medallions representing the coats of arms of the eight most important cities of Aragon where Court was held. Each one of them contains a reproach to the introduction of Castilian Law insofar as it meant the loss of identity of the old realm. The coats of arms were the work of the Aragonese architect, Regino Borobio.

Another remarkable detail is the statue of Themis, which stands inside the Court’s patio, next to the base of the fine stairway. This work of the sculptor Palau is singular inasmuch as Themis is not shown with bandaged eyes or with the balancing scales.

The interior of the Palace, decorated in the style of the Aragonese Renaissance, houses one of the extremely rare Renaissance chapels in existence nowadays. On the ceramic floor there is a representation of the coat of arms of the Catholic Monarchs, and, outstanding above the altarpiece – work of the Albareda Brothers (1.928) – is the highly expressive figure of Christ, dating from the end of the Renaissance period.

Since April of 2010, the courtrooms of the High Court of Justice of Aragon have been exhibiting – after their restoration – a collection of six tapestries. Iconographically, they may be grouped into two trios -- one representing the royal coat of arms of the dynastic and territorial unification brought about by Isabel of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon, and a second made up of the Bourbon emblem of the crowned shield.

Their restoration, after many years of oversight and abandonment, has given way to the tapestries once again being shown in the positions for which they were conceived.