With its 2000years of history Zaragoza offers its visitors a great cultural heritage. Known as the City of the Four Cultures, Iberians, Romans, Muslims, Jewish and Christians have influenced the development of this city since early times.
First as an Iberian settlement, known as Salduba, the current city of Zaragoza was a colony funded by the romans in the year 24 A.C called Caesar Augusta.
Of the Romans are the walls of about 80 m in length, the Roman Theater one of the majors of Roman Hispania, the River Port and the Public Baths.
In the VIIIth century it flourished as an important Muslim settlement known as Medina Albaida Sarakosta. Its most important testimony is “La Aljaferia”, one of the most remarkable examples of muslim-hispanic architecture from the IXth century. “mudejar” forms of art can also be appreciated in the towers of different churches in the city: La Magdalena, San Pablo, San Gil and San Miguel, el Torreon de la Zuda and one of the walls in La Seo.
The cathedral is located on the Plaza de la Seo and is commonly known as La Seo to distinguish it from the nearby El Pilar, whose name (pillar) is a reference to an apparition of Mary in Zaragoza.
They both share co-cathedral status in metropolitan Zaragoza.
The location of the Seo has its roots in the old Roman forum of Caesaraugusta and in the Mosque of Saraqusta.
The building was started in the XII th century and it was not until the year 1704 that we can consider it finished.
The Cathedral-Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar is a Roman Catholic church ; the Basilica venerates Blessed Virgin Mary, under her title Our Lady of the Pillar . It is reputed to be the first church dedicated to Mary in history.
Local traditions take the history of this basilica to the dawn of Christianity in Spain attributing to an apparition to Saint James the Great, the apostle who is believed by tradition to have brought Christianity to the country.This is the only reported apparition of Mary to have occurred before her believed Assumption
Tradition holds that on 2 January 40 AD,while he was deep in prayer by the banks of the Ebro the Mother of God appeared to him and gave a column of jasper and instructed him to build a church in her honor.
There is not much left of the of the Jewish Zaragoza. The Jewish settlement spread along the current calle Don Jaime, calle Verónica, San Pedro square, calle Santo Dominguito and calle San Jorge.
In the XVI th century la Lonja, the church of Santa Engracia, las Casas de los Morlanes, de la Maestranza, the palaces of Condes de Morata, de Arguillo, de Armijo, de Sástago and the courtyard of la Infanta were built.
In the Expo site, one can visit the 76-metre high “Torre del Agua” building, a glass window building which together with the sculpture of the drop of water has become an iconic symbol of the 2008 world Expo held in Zaragoza. In the same site, do not miss the millennium bridge designed by the famous architect: Zaha Hadid and the “Palacio de Congresos” designed by Nieto and Sobejano.
There is a wide variety of museums to choose from in Zaragoza. The most remarkable ones are: the Roman Forum, Pablo Gargallo, Pablo Serrano, Zaragoza which houses a collection of Goyas and Camon Aznar.
Resource: Tourism of Zaragoza
