The best cycling routes around Lupiñén-Ortilla

At this point, the Gállego channel flows into the reservoir. The confluence often attracts herons, cormorants, and other birds that take advantage of the abundance of fish. From the shore, you have a sweeping view of the reservoir, with the Pyrenees in the background on clear days.

The church of San José is the parish church of the Tormos neighborhood, a town belonging to the municipality of Alcalá de Gurrea, built to house the workers of the Sotonera dam and reservoir. The church, inaugurated in 1926, has a rectangular plan and a polygonal head facing southwest. The free-standing bell tower is separate from the main building and is built of brick. Its construction does not correspond to a defined style, and mixes different styles, with the Romanesque predominating.

This town in the region of Hoya de Huesca in the community of Aragón appears mentioned for the first time in 1104, in a concord between the bishop of Huesca and the abbot of Montearagón. Its origin is Roman, a link that still survives in the tradition of the "vote", which unites Alerre with six other towns that surround Huesca and form the "Seven Places". This historical community was united by the promise of a vote destined to ask for the holy protection of a saint, Lorenzo, son of two Roman subjects who lived in a Roman settlement near present-day Huesca, and who was martyred in Rome. Alerre has an interesting costume and footwear museum, located in the keep, next to the town hall, and which collects more than 3,000 pieces from all over the world, donated by the Scottish diplomat of Spanish origin Tomás Moyano.

The ruins of the Watchtower tower, probably built between the 9th and 10th centuries, are of Islamic origin. The tower, with a square plan, preserves only three walls, since the south wall collapsed. It is also known as the Four Corners Tower. It is located in a privileged place, on a hill that overlooks the Sotonera reservoir. Its elevated position allowed visual communication with the Tower of San Mitiel or the Bolea castle.

Montmesa is a municipality in Huesca in the Hoya de Huesca region, in the community of Aragón. Since 1845 it belongs to the municipality of Lupiñén-Ortilla. Located between the Sotón and Astón rivers and close to the Sotonera reservoir, Montmesa is characterized by its traditional stone and rammed earth buildings, some dating back to the 18th century. The church of San Miguel Arcángel that crowns the town is a Romanesque temple from the 12th century modified centuries later (16th-18th century), whose Mudejar tower is unique in the area.

Located on the Gállego River, the Ardisa reservoir is shared by the municipalities of Ardisa and Biscarrués. However, both most of the layout of the dam and all the buildings reviewed are located in the municipality of Biscarrués, which is why they have been included in the catalog of this municipality. The reservoir has an area of 2100 km2, with a total capacity of 5 Hm3 and a useful capacity of 3 Hm3. The dam is made of cyclopean concrete. It presents the type of gravity dam, with a height of 31.14 m and a crest length of 450 m. It has a curved layout and a front arranged in a stepped slope. On the right bank there is a large trapezoidal tank delimited by concrete walls (called a "surface spillway" in the reservoir project) which, through a four-span spillway, connects to a long drainage channel arranged in slope that flows into the river Gállego. The set also consists of several buildings, all of them located on the left bank of the river: the gate house, through which the discharge to the canal that leads water to the Sotonera reservoir is regulated, the dam guard's house , a warehouse and a water tank.

The Parish Church of San José was inaugurated in 1926, in the so-called Church neighborhood. Its dedication to San José Obrero Obrero is defined because Tormos was destined to house the workers of the La Sotonera dam and their families. It is mainly characterized by the separation between the temple and the bell tower, reminiscent of the Italian custom in the construction of this type of buildings. It consists of a single nave with three sections and a polygonal main chapel and its façade, completely whitewashed, is decorated with a gable. It still stands today, presiding over with its beauty the remains of what was Tormos in its greatest moment of splendor.

Atalaia which represents an old watchtower just above the Sotonera reservoir, from where you can see the dam as a whole and also the first pre-Pyrenean mountain ranges such as the Sierra de Guara.