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SARAGOSSA (Zaragoza) , the capital of theSee also: Spanish province of Saragossa and formerly of the See also: kingdom of See also: Aragon, seat of an archbishop, of a See also: court of See also: appeal, and of the captain-general of Aragon; on the right See also: bank of the See also: river See also: Ebro, 212 M. by See also: rail N.E. of See also: Madrid
.
Pop
.
(1900) 99,118
.
Saragossa is an important railway junction; it is connected by See also: direct See also: main lines with See also: Valladolid, Madrid and See also: Valencia in the west and See also: south, and by the Ebro Valley Railway with See also: Catalonia and the Basque Provinces; it is also the starting-point of See also: railways to the See also: northern districts of Aragon and to Carinena on the south-west
.
The city is built in an oasis of highly cultivated See also: land, irrigated by a multitude of streams which distribute the See also: waters of the Imperial Canal, and surrounded by an arid plain exposed to the violent See also: gales which See also: blow down, hot in summer and icy in winter, from the Castilian See also: plateau
.
The monthly range of temperature frequently varies by as much as 50° Fahr., and the See also: climate is rarely pleasant for many consecutive days except in spring, when warm easterly winds blow from the Mediterranean
.
The city is surrounded by gardens, farms and country-houses (locally known as torres, " towers ")
.
Seen from a distance it has a See also: fine appearance owing to the number of its domes and towers; on a nearer approach it presents a remarkable contrast between the older streets, narrow, gloomy, See also: ill-paved and lined with the fortress-like palaces of the old Aragonese See also: nobility, and the business and residential quarters,. which are as well built as any See also: part of Madrid or See also: Barcelona
.
Saragossa is thus in appearance at once one of the See also: oldest and one of the newest of Spanish cities
.
One' of its two See also: stone
See also: bridges, the seven-arched Puente de Piedra, See also: dates from 1447; there is also an iron See also: bridge for the railway to See also: Pamplona
.
Beside the river there are public walks and avenues of See also: poplar; the suburb on the See also: left bank is named Arrabal
.
The two most important buildings of Saragossa are its cathedrals, to each of
which the chapter is attached for six months in the See also: year
.
La Seo (" The See ") is the older of the two, dating chiefly from the 14th century; its prevailingSee also: style .is See also: Gothic, but the oldest portion, the See also: lower walls of the apse, is See also: Byzantine
.
The Iglesia Metropolitana del Pilar is the larger See also: building, dating only from the latter See also: half of the 17th century; it was built after designs by Herrera el Mozo, and owes it name to one of the most venerated See also: objects in See also: Spain, the " pillar " of See also: jasper on which the Virgin is said to have alighted when she manifested herself to St See also: James as he passed through Saragossa
.
It has little architectural merit; externally its most conspicuous features are its cupolas, which are decorated with rows of
See also: green, yellow and See also: white glazed tiles
.
The
See also: church of
See also: San Pablo dates mainly from the 13th century
.
The Torre Nueva, an octangular See also: clock tower in diapered See also: brickwork, dating from 1504, was pulled down in 1892; it leaned some 9 or 10 ft. from the perpendicular, owing to faulty See also: foundations, which ultimately rendered it unsafe
.
Among other conspicuous public buildings are the municipal buildings, the See also: exchange (Lonja), and the See also: civil and military hospitals and See also: almshouse (Hospicio provincial), which are among the largest in Spain
.
The university was founded in 1474, but its See also: history has not been brilliant
.
To the west of the See also: town is the Aljaferia or old citadel, originally built as a palace by the Moors and also used as such by its Christian owners
.
See also: Late in the 15th century it was assigned by See also: Ferdinand and Isabella to the Inquisition, and has since been used as a military hospital, as a prison and as barracks
.
Saragossa is the headquarters of a large agricultural
See also: trade; its See also: industries include iron-founding, tanning, See also: brewing, See also: distillation of See also: spirits, and manufactures of machinery, candles, See also: soap, See also: glass and See also: porcelain
.
History.—Saragossa (Celtiberian, Salduba) was made a colony by See also: Augustus at the close of the Celtiberian War (25 B.C.), and renamed Caesarea See also: Augusta or Caesaraugusta, from which " Saragossa " is derived
.
Under the See also: Romans it was a highly privileged city, the chief commercial and military station in the Ebro valley, and the seat of one of the four conventus juridici (assizes) of Hither Spain
.
It is now, however, almost destitute of antiquities dating from the See also: Roman occupation
.
It was captured in 452 by the See also: Suebi, and in 476 by the Visigoths, whose See also: rule lasted until the Moorish See also: conquest in 712, and under whom Saragossa was the first city to abandon the Arian See also: heresy
.
In 777 its Moorish ruler, the See also: viceroy of Barcelona, appealed to Charlemagne for aid against the powerful See also: caliph of Cordova, Abd-ar-Rahman I
.
Charlemagne besieged the Cordovan army in Sarkosta, as the city was then called; but a See also: rebellion of his Saxon subjects compelled him to withdraw his army, which suffered defeat at See also: Roncesvalles (q.v.), while recrossing the Pyrenees
.
The Moors were finally expelled by See also: Alphonso I. of Aragon in 1118, after a siege lasting nine months in which the defenders were reduced to terrible straits by See also: famine
.
As the capital of Aragon, Saragossa prospered greatly until the second half of the 15th century, when the See also: marriage between Ferdinand and Isabella (1469) resulted in the transference of the court to See also: Castile
.
In 1710 the allied See also: British and See also: Austrian armies defeated the forces of See also: Philip V. at Saragossa in the war of the Spanish Succession; but it was in the
See also: Peninsular War (q.v.) that the city reached the See also: zenith of its fame
.
An ill-armed See also: body of citizens, led by Jose de Palafox y Melzi (see PALAFOX), whose chief lieutenants were a See also: priest and two peasants, held the hastily-entrenched city against Marshal Lefebvre from the 15th of See also: June to the 15th of See also: August 1808
.
The siege was then raised in consequence of the See also: reverse suffered by the French at Bailen (q.v.), but it was renewed on the 20th of See also: December, and on the 27th of See also: January the invaders entered the city
.
Even then they encountered a desperate resistance, and it was not until the 20th of See also: February that the defenders were compelled to capitulate, after more than three See also: weeks of continuous street fighting
.
About 50,00o persons, the majority non-combatants, perished in the city, largely through famine and disease
.
Among the defenders was the famous " Maid of Saragossa," Maria Agustin, whose exploits were described by See also: Byron in Childe Harold (1, 55 sqq.)
.
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