15/01/2026
⭐️The Lovers of Teruel❤️
“Bésame, que me muero.”
Kiss me, for I am dying.
The tale of The Lovers of Teruel (Los amantes de Teruel) is a legendary romance said to have unfolded in 1217 in the city of Teruel, Aragón.
Two noble families dominated the city: the Marcilla and the Segura. Diego (Juan Martínez de Marcilla) belonged to the former, and Isabel to the latter. Childhood companions, they grew into a deep and devoted love. Yet when they reached marriageable age, Diego’s family had fallen into poverty. Isabel’s father—wealthiest man in Teruel—refused to allow the match.
Diego pleaded for a chance. At last, Isabel’s father agreed to grant him five years to restore his fortune. If he returned wealthy within that time, he could marry Isabel.
During those five years, Isabel’s father pressed her to accept another suitor. She resisted, claiming that God wished her to remain a virgin until she turned twenty, and that a woman should first learn to manage a household before marrying. Loving her dearly, her father relented. Together they waited for Diego’s return.
But no word came.
On the final day of the five‑year pact, believing Diego dead or lost, Isabel’s father married her to Don Pedro de Azagra, lord of Albarracín. Moments after the wedding, a commotion erupted at the Zaragoza Gate: Diego had returned—rich, triumphant, and ready to claim his bride. He had miscounted the days; the Segura family had not.
That night, desperate, Diego slipped into the chamber of Isabel and her new husband. He woke her gently and begged:
“Bésame, que me muero.”
Kiss me, for I am dying.
Isabel refused.
“No quiera Dios que yo falte a mi marido.”
God would not wish me to betray my husband.
She implored him to forget her, saying that if their love had not pleased God, it should not please her either.
Diego begged once more for a final kiss. Again, she refused. Heartbroken beyond endurance, he collapsed at her feet and died.
Isabel trembled. She roused her husband, claiming his snoring had frightened her and asking him to tell her a story. After he obliged, she confessed the truth: Diego lay dead beside their bed.
Her husband cried, “Wretched woman! Why did you not kiss him?”
“To avoid deceiving my husband,” she answered.
He groaned, “You are a woman worthy of praise.”
Fearing he would be blamed for Diego’s death, they agreed to bury him secretly in the local church.
The next day, at Diego’s funeral, Isabel arrived wearing her wedding dress. She walked to the front of the church, leaned over the body of the man she had refused—and kissed him. In that moment, she died, falling upon him.
The people of Teruel, moved by the tragedy, demanded that the lovers be buried side by side so that, in death, they might finally be united. The church granted the request.
Their fame spread across Spain. In 1560, their mummified bodies were exhumed and placed in special tombs. Later, as visitors flocked to see them, the remains were moved again into two marble tombs sculpted by Juan de Ávalos. Each bears the family shields of Marcilla and Segura.
The lids are the most striking feature:
– Diego, strong and noble, stretches out an arm towards Isabel, his hand almost touching hers—yet not quite, out of respect for her married state.
– Isabel lies radiant and serene, eternally reaching back.
According to Antonio Beltrán, the legend gained strength after two mummies were discovered in San Pedro’s Church in 1555, believed to be those of Diego Marcilla and Isabel Segura—the Lovers of Teruel.
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