Zaragoza, Spain

Zaragoza (Latin Caesar Augusta, also known in English as Saragossa) is the capital city of Aragon, Spain, located on the Ebro river near the centre of Aragon.

It is also the capital of the province of Zaragoza.

The population of the municipality of Zaragoza was 620,419 in 2002.

It 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, atop a pillar. This legend is commemorated by a famous Catholic basilica called Nuestra Señora del Pilar; ("Our Lady of the Pillar").

This 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 for Hispanics 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 a Roman arch.

Near this area is a nightclub district called El Tubo.

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.

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

Table of contents

1 History 2 Etymology 3 Miscellaneous

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 Peninsula War (See Agustina de Aragón).

Etymology

Historically, this site was an Iberian village called Salduie or Salduba, then a new Roman town close to that site, named Caesar Augusta after Augustus Caesar, slurred into ’Sar Agusta, further renamed Medina Albaida Sarakosta under the Moors, Saragoça under the Christians (with the ç pronounced /ts/), later Çaragoça, and finally developing into Zaragoza in Castilian and Aragonese, and Saragossa in Catalan, giving the French Saragosse, the Italians Saragozza and the English Saragossa.

Miscellaneous

It contains an important military officer academy, and formerly a USAF airbase.

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

Zaragoza (translated as Zaragoza or Saragossa) is a novel by Benito Pérez Galdós;.