Zaragoza

Capital of Zaragoza province and of Aragón autonomous community, northeast Spain, on the River Ebro; population (2001 est) 611,000. Situated in a fertile, irrigated agricultural region, manufacturing includes wood products, vehicles, machinery, foodstuffs, paper, chemicals, and plastics. It is an archiepiscopal see; the medieval city walls and bridges over the River Ebro still remain, and there is a university founded in 1474.

History
A Celtic settlement known as Salduba was captured by the Romans in the 1st century BC; they named it Caesarea Augusta, after Emperor Augustus; later it was captured by the Goths (5th century) and the Moors (8th century), under whom it became the capital of an indpendent emirate in 1017. The city was taken in 1118 after a nine-month siege by Alfonso the Warrior, King of Navarre and Aragón. Zaragoza remained the capital of Aragón until the end of the 15th century. From June 1808 to February 1809, during the Peninsular War, it resisted a French siege, surrendering only after some 50,000 defenders had died. Maria Augustin (died 1859), known as the ‘Maid of Zaragoza’ (Spanish ‘Agostina de Aragón’), became a national hero for her part in the defence; her story is told in Byron's Childe Harold (1812–18).

Features
Zaragoza is rich in works of art, many of which show Moorish influence. There are two cathedrals – La Seo (12th–16th centuries), formerly a mosque, and El Pilar (17th century), which contains frescoes by Velázquez and Goya.