For alternative meanings, see Zaragoza (disambiguation).

Zaragoza (English Saragossa, Latin Caesaraugusta) is the capital city of the autonomous region and former kingdom of Aragon in Spain, and is located on the river Ebro, and its tributaries the Huerva and Gállego, near the centre of the region, in a great valley with a variety of landscapes, ranging from desert to thick forest, meadows and mountains (los Monegros).

View from the top of the cathedral of El Pilar

According to data from Zaragoza council from 1 January 2004, the population of the city of Zaragoza was 641,581. The population of the metropolitan area was estimated in 2003 at 656,922 inhabitants, ranking as the fifth-largest urban area in Spain. The municipality is home to more than 50% of the Aragon population. The city is 199 metres above sea level, and constitutes a crossroads between Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Bilbao, all about 300 kilometres (200 miles) from Zaragoza.

Zaragoza is linked by legends to the beginnings of Christianity in Spain. According to legend, the Virgin Mary appeared miraculously to Saint James the Great in the 1st century, standing on a pillar. This legend is commemorated by a famous Catholic basilica called Nuestra Señora del Pilar ("Our Lady of the Pillar").

The event is celebrated on 12 October which is a major fiesta in Zaragoza. Since it coincided in 1492 with the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, that day is also celebrated as El Día de la Hispanidad (Columbus Day, literally Hispanity Day) by Spanish-speaking people worldwide.

Near the basilica on the banks of the Ebro are located the city hall, the Lonja (old currency exchange), the cathedral or Seo, and the ruins of the Roman city wall.

Near this area is a "tapa"'s zone called El Tubo and a nightclub district called El Casco. Other nightclub districts are La Zona and El Royo.

Some distance from the centre of the old city is an expansive Moorish castle/palace called the Aljafería, one of the northernmost important Moorish buildings in Spain. The Aragonese parliament currently sits in the building. The palace was the setting of Verdi's famous opera Il Trovatore.

Zaragoza is linked by Renfe's AVE high speed train service to Madrid and to Lleida in Catalonia.

View of Zaragoza by Diego Velasquez

History

Zaragoza was the scene of two famous martyrdoms: those of Saint Dominguito del Val, a choirboy in the basilica, and Pedro de Arbués, an official of the Spanish Inquisition.

Zaragoza was the seat of a Moorish taifa in the Middle Ages.

It suffered combat during the Peninsular War (see Agustina de Aragón).

During the Spanish Civil War it was briefly liberated from Fascism by the Durruti Column, led by Buenaventura Durruti.

Etymology

Historically, this site was an Iberian village called Salduie or Salduba, then a new Roman town close to that site, named Caesaraugusta after Emperor Caesar Augustus, later elided into ’Sar Agusta and further renamed Sarakosta or Saraqosta by the Moors. This became Saragoça (the ç pronounced /ts/) under the Christians, later Çaragoça, and finally developed into Zaragoza in Castilian and Aragonese, and Saragossa in Catalan, giving the French Saragosse, the Italian Saragozza, and the English Saragossa.

Miscellaneous

Zaragoza is the home of an important military officer academy and was formerly a United States Air Force base.

See also List of cities in Spain and List of municipalities in Zaragoza province.
 

Zaragoza (translated as Zaragoza or Saragossa) is the title of a novel by Benito Pérez Galdós.