Caesaraugusta

For alternative meanings, see Zaragoza (disambiguation).

Zaragoza (Latin Caesaraugusta, also known in English and Catalan as Saragossa) is the capital city of the autonomous region and former kingdom of Aragon in Spain, and is located on the Ebro river near the centre of the region. It is also the capital of Zaragoza province.

As of 2003 census, the population of the city of Zaragoza was 626,081. The population of the metropolitan area was estimated in 2003 at 656,922 inhabitants, ranking as the ninth-largest urban area in Spain. The municipality is home to more than 50% of the Aragon population.

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 Hispanicity 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 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.

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 Medina Albaida Sarakosta 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.
 

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