Tour(ist)ing Zaragoza

Our first full day in Zaragoza began as many adventures do - with getting lost. We hopped on the bus just fine, but of course we got off at the wrong stop, and the Day of Many Steps had begun. Apparently you have to turn roaming on for your phone to work internationally, but years of distrusting AT&T meant I had a pervading thought of, "That can't be right...."

So our Google Map only kind of worked, and we stumbled upon a restored historic bullfighting ring (and who knows what else) - and eventually we made it to the main plaza. It helps that, just like in Louisville, there's a giant river winding through the north of town (though it's still Zaragoza on the other side and not Indiana), but the Ebro River helped us find our bearings. And the signs with arrows pointing us in the right direction.

We've been here a little over two weeks now, and we've officially visited three major attractions. I'm going to review these in reverse order, because as such they roughly correlate with Zaragoza's history. (History is not a great strength of mine as of yet, but I'm doing my best.)

The Roman Ruins


A tribe of ancient Iberians gave way to the Romans and Caesar Augustus (yes, that Caesar Augustus) around 20 BCE. This colony for Cantabrian war veterans was named Caesaraugusta, and the tour informed me that this is the only city Caesar August gave his name to. Through time (and conquests), Caesaraugusta came to be pronounced Zaragoza.

We visited the (underground) ruins of the forum/market/sewers and the port on the river. We will also be visiting the ruins of the theatre and the public baths. There are a few other instances of ruins protruding or displayed throughout town.

The Aljaferia Palace





The Iberian Peninsula has known its share of political turmoil (and wars). After the Romans came the Goths, and then the Goths were unseated by the Umayyad conquest of the Iberian Peninsula (the Muslim conquest of Spain). Zaragoza (Saraqusṭa) became the capital of northern region of Al-Andalus.

My understanding is that this was a relatively peaceful time in Spain's history, with Jews and Christians being considered citizens of lesser status than Muslims (as opposed to Muslims' slaves).

The Aljaferia Palace is a Palace-Castle and a jewel of Spanish-Islamic architecture, inside and out.

The Cathedral-Basilica of Pilar (Catedral-Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar)



The Berber Muslims (Almoravids) rose to power in 1110, and then in 1118, Alfonso 1 of Aragon, took Zaragoza from them and made it the capital of the (Christian) Kingdom of Aragon. A lot happened between then and the main construction of this church between 1681-1872 (like the formation of Spain as a country in 1479), but this Basilica all began with a chapel dedicated to Mary inspired by her apparition to Saint James in 40 AD/CE.

The present-day Roman Catholic church is the anchor of the main plaza in Zaragoza (with the other city's cathedral, La Seo de Zaragoza, just across the plaza). It's the center of town, and apparently the first church dedicated to Mary in history. The annual Fiestas del Pilar last for nine days, and coincide with the national holiday of Spain, October 12 (Columbus Day in the USA).

What's Next?


Well, apart from visiting the rest of the Roman ruins -

There's the art museums of painter Francisco de Goya and sculptor Pablo Gargallo, and then the tapestry museum inside the other Cathedral (La Seo). And I want to go to the Origami Museum.

We took the tour bus around town (a few times on our 24-hour pass), and it highlighted many of the sites built in concert with Zaragoza hosting the Expo 2008, a world's fair on water and sustainable development.

So there's a lot left to explore, but before we can do too much of that, we need to find an apartment, open a bank account, find a local phone provider - that sort of thing. And shop for groceries and get hair cuts. We also start our Spanish (castellano) language classes next week.

Thanks for visiting virtually with us, and we hope to soon share how you can visit with us (and Zaragoza) in person.

Sources


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