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Zaragoza
KNOWLEDGE OF Zaragoza
Romans
Zaragoza was founded in the year 24 BC by the legions that had taken part in the Cantabrian Wars, in Augustus' time. The city took its name from the emperor Caesaraugusta (Caesar Augustus) and was an important city with 30,000 inhabitants as well as baths, sewers, a theatre (6,000 capacity), a market, temples, a port and a road network that connected it to other cities in the empire. The city was built on the Ebro River - the ancient Iber -, an area populated by the Sedetans, an Iberian folk. By the end of the empire, Zaragoza had acquired some importance in ancient texts due to its Christian community (a council was held here in 380 which condemned Priscilian's heresy).
Muslims
After a period of three hundred years of Visigothic domination, Zaragoza - like the rest of the country - fell under Moorish influence, in 714. Zaragoza became Saraqusta, also known as Medina Albayda: "white city". Saraqusta became the capital of an important Taifa Kingdom, which reached as far as Tortosa and had its utmost splendour in the 11th century, when it became an international and cosmopolitan city for traders, and an important slave market. King Abu Yafar al-Muqtadir, a poet and astronomer wrote about his palace the Aljafería: "Oh palace of happiness! hall of gold! With you I have reached the summit of my desires, even if my kingdom contained nothing else, with you all my desires would be satisfied." At the same time and in the same palace lived Avempace, who was a translator and commentator of Aristotele's philosophy and influenced Averroes and Saint Thomas of Aquinas.
Christians
In 1118 the king of Aragón, Alfonso I, won Zaragoza back from the Moors and it became the new capital of the kingdom. The old main mosque of Saraqusta became a Romanesque cathedral, later Gothic and Mudéjar. In this cathedral, today called Seo, the kings of Aragón were crowned. The royal residence was the Aljafería, which under Pedro IV was enlarged and reformed (the king even had a zoo there).
A few of the city's most important religious monuments from the 14th century are still in good condition, including the churches of San Pablo , la Magdalena, San Gil and San Miguel. These are all examples of the mudéjar arquitecture style from after the Reconquest, which is characterized by a fusion on Roman, Gothic and Arabic elements.
16-17th Centuries
It was in the 16th century that the city blossomed economically. With 25,000 inhabitants, Zaragoza became the fourth largest city in Spain after Seville, Valencia and Barcelona, and was bigger than Madrid. It was a city of traders. The Lonja testifies to its splendour; it is considered to be the most beautiful Renaissance building in Aragón, and stock sales and purchases took place within its walls.
During this period, the new nobility built a large number of palaces and aristocratic houses. The political conflicts due to the Antonio Pérez case in 1591, which culminated in the execution of the Judge of Aragón, Juan de Lanuza, initiated the decadence, misery and darkness of the 17th century, which was generalized throughout Spain. This is when Santa Isabel Church and the characteristic Basílica del Pilar, located in the plaza (square) of the same name, was built beside the River Ebro. The Virgen del Pilar, patron saint of Spain, is worshipped within.
Zaragoza was founded in the year 24 BC by the legions that had taken part in the Cantabrian Wars, in Augustus' time. The city took its name from the emperor Caesaraugusta (Caesar Augustus) and was an important city with 30,000 inhabitants as well as baths, sewers, a theatre (6,000 capacity), a market, temples, a port and a road network that connected it to other cities in the empire. The city was built on the Ebro River - the ancient Iber -, an area populated by the Sedetans, an Iberian folk. By the end of the empire, Zaragoza had acquired some importance in ancient texts due to its Christian community (a council was held here in 380 which condemned Priscilian's heresy).
Muslims
After a period of three hundred years of Visigothic domination, Zaragoza - like the rest of the country - fell under Moorish influence, in 714. Zaragoza became Saraqusta, also known as Medina Albayda: "white city". Saraqusta became the capital of an important Taifa Kingdom, which reached as far as Tortosa and had its utmost splendour in the 11th century, when it became an international and cosmopolitan city for traders, and an important slave market. King Abu Yafar al-Muqtadir, a poet and astronomer wrote about his palace the Aljafería: "Oh palace of happiness! hall of gold! With you I have reached the summit of my desires, even if my kingdom contained nothing else, with you all my desires would be satisfied." At the same time and in the same palace lived Avempace, who was a translator and commentator of Aristotele's philosophy and influenced Averroes and Saint Thomas of Aquinas.
Christians
In 1118 the king of Aragón, Alfonso I, won Zaragoza back from the Moors and it became the new capital of the kingdom. The old main mosque of Saraqusta became a Romanesque cathedral, later Gothic and Mudéjar. In this cathedral, today called Seo, the kings of Aragón were crowned. The royal residence was the Aljafería, which under Pedro IV was enlarged and reformed (the king even had a zoo there).
A few of the city's most important religious monuments from the 14th century are still in good condition, including the churches of San Pablo , la Magdalena, San Gil and San Miguel. These are all examples of the mudéjar arquitecture style from after the Reconquest, which is characterized by a fusion on Roman, Gothic and Arabic elements.
16-17th Centuries
It was in the 16th century that the city blossomed economically. With 25,000 inhabitants, Zaragoza became the fourth largest city in Spain after Seville, Valencia and Barcelona, and was bigger than Madrid. It was a city of traders. The Lonja testifies to its splendour; it is considered to be the most beautiful Renaissance building in Aragón, and stock sales and purchases took place within its walls.
During this period, the new nobility built a large number of palaces and aristocratic houses. The political conflicts due to the Antonio Pérez case in 1591, which culminated in the execution of the Judge of Aragón, Juan de Lanuza, initiated the decadence, misery and darkness of the 17th century, which was generalized throughout Spain. This is when Santa Isabel Church and the characteristic Basílica del Pilar, located in the plaza (square) of the same name, was built beside the River Ebro. The Virgen del Pilar, patron saint of Spain, is worshipped within.
Chapi