Zaragoza – Why hadn’t we heard of this place?!?

Spain

We had no idea what a gem of a city Zaragoza is – I don’t even think we’d heard of it before we started researching cities in Spain. It’s a big, vibrant city with a ton of cultural and historical treasures.

Our Lady of the Pillar Basilica

I’ll just start with the big one: Our Lady of the Pillar Basilica. This is one of the biggest, most impressive cathedrals we’ve seen. We (i.e. Vince) took so many pictures of it - nighttime pictures, sunshine pictures, rain pictures… Here are a couple of the best. (Look for people in the foreground to give an idea of the scale).

No pictures allowed in the interior – it was extravagant. Here is a (stock) picture of the unbelievable high alter - to give you a taste.

The Basilica was built in the 17^th Century, and it has a significant piece of a marble: The story is that the Virgin Mary gave it to St. James when she visited him in Zaragoza in AD 40. Therefore, the church is a place of pilgrimage. There are also claims that Mary lived in Ephesus, Turkey. I find all of the claims a little questionable, because these would’ve been enormous distances to travel 2,000 years ago, especially for an older person (and life expectancy was significantly lower at the time).

The Basilica sits in the Plaza del Pilar, a huge beautiful square surrounded by 15^th & 16^th Century buildings.

La Lonja

One of the buildings on the square is called La Lonja, built in 1541-1551 as a Commodities Exchange. The arches are absolutely incredible. Again, no photos allowed in the interior, so the interior photo is one from the tourism website:

Aljaferia – the palace

The next cool site that we went to is the Aljaferia, the Islamic Palace. The oldest part was built over 1,000 years ago (9^th Century). After the Christian conquest of Aragon in 1118, the castle was transformed into a Christian/medieval palace. Then, in 1492, an entirely new palace was built for “The Catholic Monarchs,” Ferdinand & Isabella, to symbolize Christian power.

This is the oldest part of the palace (from the 9^th Century) –

The half-circle archways over the doors were an architectural innovation at the time… The intricacy of the carving was unbelievable.

There are several courtyards – this one belonged to the original Islamic palace, a traditional garden of serenity:

The first entrance to the “newer” palace built in 1492 for Isabella and Ferdinand is this huge staircase with an extravagantly-painted ceiling.

There were several important reception rooms and waiting rooms for visiting royals, but the most notable room is the Throne room.

The ceiling in here is unbelievable – especially when you remember that it’s 500 years old. The dark wooden archways were galleries where people could look down on the proceedings.

By the way, I never before had put together that the Ferdinand & Isabella, “the Catholic Monarchs” who financed Christopher Columbus’s voyage (and who drew up a legal document to claim whatever land and “treasures” he found) were the very same royals who started the Spanish Inquisition; the inquisition lasted 300 years, but the most brutal period was during their reign. What a claim to fame, to have instigated such widespread human suffering...

Le Seo

Another architectural gem is the Cathedral of San Salvador, or Le Seo.

It’s another place where we were not allowed to take pictures of the interior, so here's an online picture - this alterpeice is was made in 1434, and it's breathtaking.

Le Seo is attached to the Museum of Tapestries, one of the most important tapestry collections in the world. The museum has 63 tapestries, from the 15^th to 17^th Centuries, and come from all over Europe.

Again, no pictures allowed, so here’s another online picture to give you an idea of the enormous exhibition. Same distinctive ceiling style as many buildings in Zaragoza, but this time in red stone.

Patio de la Infanta:

The Patio de la Infanta is the courtyard that was formerly in the palace of a rich banker/businessman. His bank acquired it and moved it to the ground floor of their headquarters. The carving is intricate, and there are currently a couple of priceless 17^th-Century tapestries on display there.

Zaragoza Museum:

We love going to free museums – and this was one of the great ones – museum of Archeology and fine art. Great pieces from the 15^th & 16^th Centuries, and an impressive collection of Roman sculptures & decorations.

Art from the 15^th Century:

Piece of Roman wall with fresco painting (this looks like a lot of the walls in Pompeii!).

Roman floor mosaics:

Crystal:

We stumbled upon this Crystal exhibit that was displayed inside a church (Church del Sagrado Corazon, or Sacred Heart) – it is incredible. The pieces were made in the 1700’s. The tour was an automated audio-visual guided walking tour (in Spanish), and it lit up different displays as we walked through. These are all made of crystal - Here are a couple highlights:

Vince is at the bottom right of this picture to show how big these were.

This one is a big ship:

Finally, a to-scale model of the Cathedral of the Pillar – with interior detail!

Roman Ruins:

Like so many other European (and Turkish and African) towns, there are some Roman remains. There are some city walls, and this excavated amphitheater, covered with a modern roof for conservation.

Food:

Spanish churros are different from the Mexican ones that I’ve had. They’re crispy fried dough (not really sweetened), that you dip in chocolate. Breakfast of champions, right? Um, we had them for dinner one night too. When in Rome…

A Clean, pretty city:

The streets were pretty and immaculate, partly due to these humorously teeny street cleaners:

To Sum it up:

Zaragoza far surpassed our expectations – it’s full of historical, architectural, and cultural gems. I would definitely recommend that anyone traveling to Spain prioritize Zaragoza – it might even have more to offer than some of the bigger, more famous cities. Again, how did we not know about this place?