Zaragoza

Zaragoza (thärägō`thä) or Saragossa (sâr'əgō`sə), city (1990 pop. 592,686), capital of Zaragoza prov. and leading city of Aragón, NE Spain, on the Ebro River. An important commercial and communications center, it is situated in a fertile, irrigated agricultural region. Among its manufactures are vehicles, wood products, machinery, foodstuffs, and paper. It is an archiepiscopal see and has a university (founded 1474). Of ancient origin, it was named Caesarea Augusta by Emperor Augustus. It fell to the Goths (5th cent.) and to the Moors (8th cent.), under whom it became (1017) the capital of an independent emirate. Charlemagne tried to take it but was defeated by the Moors (778). The Cid fought for a time in the service of the Moorish ruler of Zaragoza. The city was conquered (1118) by Alfonso I of Aragón, who made it the capital of his kingdom. The most notable event in the later history of Zaragoza was its heroic resistance, under the leadership of Palafox, against the French in the Peninsular War. The city resisted the first siege (1808), surrendering only after some 50,000 defenders had died in the second siege (1808–9). Zaragoza is a cultural center and is rich in works of art, many of which show Moorish influence. There are two cathedrals—La Seo (12th–16th cent.), formerly a mosque, and El Pilar (17th cent.), named after the sacred pillar near which the Virgin is said to have appeared in the vision of St. James the Greater. El Pilar contains frescoes by Velázquez and Goya. Also noteworthy are the Church of San Pablo, the Moorish castle of Aljafería (residence of the emirs and later the kings of Aragón), the lonja (exchange building), and a 15th-century stone bridge across the Ebro. The modern church of San Antonio de Padua contains the remains of Italian soldiers killed in the civil war (1936–39).

---

Zaragoza

 or Saragossa

City (pop., 2001: 614,905), northeastern Spain. The capital of the Aragon autonomous community (comunidad autónoma), Zaragoza is located on the southern bank of the Ebro River. The Celtiberian town of Salduba at the site was taken by the Romans at the end of the 1st century BC and made a colony named Caesaraugusta, from which its present name derives. It became an episcopal see in the 3rd century AD, and it was taken by the Moors c. 714. It was the capital of the kingdom of Aragon from the 12th to the 15th century. It underwent two sieges (1808–09) by the French, which were commemorated in Lord Byron's Childe Harold. It is an industrial centre and the site of the annual National Trade Fair. Notable buildings include Romanesque and Gothic churches and palaces. Its university was founded in 1474.

---

Zaragoza

a city in NE Spain, on the River Ebro: Roman colony established 25 bc; under Moorish rule (714--1118); capital of Aragon (12th--15th centuries); twice besieged by the French during the Peninsular War and captured (1809); university (1474). Pop.: 626 081 (2003 est.)