Zaragoza

Zaragoza is the capital of Aragon in northeastern Spain, on the Ebro River halfway between Madrid and Barcelona. Caesaraugusta, the Roman colony named after the emperor Augustus, gave the city its name, which changed over time through the Arabic Saraqusta.

The colony was founded around 14 BC for veterans, and the remains of its forum, river port and theater lie under the old town. In the 11th century Zaragoza was the seat of a Muslim kingdom, the Taifa of Saraqusta, whose rulers built the Aljafería, a palace of carved stucco arches. Alfonso I of Aragon took the city in 1118 and made it the capital of his kingdom. The bell towers and brick walls of La Seo, the older of its cathedrals, show the Mudéjar style that UNESCO lists among the World Heritage sites of Aragon.

Balay, the maker of ovens and washing machines, began in Zaragoza and belongs to BSH, which runs its Spanish head office in the city. Pikolin makes mattresses and beds at its factory on the city's edge, and Saica turns recycled paper into corrugated cardboard for packaging. Frutas de Aragón, candied fruit dipped in chocolate, are the sweet sold in the old pastry shops.

The Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar rises on the riverbank under tiled domes and keeps the pillar on which, by tradition, the Virgin Mary appeared to Saint James; Francisco Goya, born in a village of the province, painted part of its ceiling. The Fiestas del Pilar in October end with an offering of flowers, when a wooden frame around the statue of the Virgin is filled to form a huge mantle of blossoms.