Thanks to all our changes of plan we didn’t have long in Zaragoza, but on first viewing, that is something we need to correct. Our train on to Nimes was early afternoon, so we had the morning to try and discover the city. This was inevitably something of a cook’s tour, but it gave us a taste of what the city is like. To summarise, it seems something of a hidden gem. The history is, like many cities in France and Spain, a fascinating mix of cultures and peoples. The name is often anglicised (why?) as Saragossa, but this seems to lose something in its alteration. It started life in Roman times as the colony of Caesaraugusta though this was built over the Sedetani settlement of Salduie.
History is evident all around as you wander through the centre. The main pedestrianised square is one of the largest in Europe and is bounded by history on all sides. The most spectacular is Catedral-Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar (The Basilica of our Lady of the Pillar). It is of Baroque in style and was mainly built between 1681 and 1872. The pillars are clearly well protected as during the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 three bombs were dropped on the church but none of them exploded. Two of them are still on display in the basilica. The third ….? Just tread carefully ….
The Pillar Basilica is a co-cathedral (a cathedral church which shares the bishop’s seat, or cathedra, with another cathedral) with the other one in the same square – the Cathedral La Seo de Zaragoza (Cathedral of the Savior). This one unfortunately wasn’t accessible, quite understandable on a Sunday.
The Roman heritage is evident all around the centre as well with the remains of the forum under the Plaza de Nuestra Señora del Pilar in between the two cathedrals. After looking at the view from the Puente de Piedra (a 15th century stone bridge over the River Ebro), we decided to head for the forum museum. There was quiet a long queue outside, so, being British, we joined it. At first we thought that the local population was inspired by their Roman heritage, but it turned out that they were more inspired by the fact that it was free on the first Sunday of the month …. and the fact that there was a free performance by a group called the ‘Yoga Theatre’. So, we thought what the hell and joined it. The performance, an intriguing combination of yoga, dance and music, was intriguing, though when it came to the open discussion afterwards, we did decide to quietly sneak out as we didn’t understand a word.
From there we wandered around to the remains of the Roman Baths to join another queue, but after a few minutes we thought better of it and headed off to the Real Maestranza de Caballería de Zaragoza – palace for the Royal Cavalry Armory of Zaragoza – a group which has apparently played a leading role in the most significant moments in the history of Aragon and the Crown of Spain, though, without wishing to diminish their role, that is perhaps a case of them writing their own history. We tried to join a tour, but the the lady seemed very insistent that we couldn’t as the tour was just in Spanish and we didn’t speak any Spanish.
Ah well, off to another palace – this time the Palacio de los Condes de Sástago (The Palace of the Counts of Sástago). This was a beautiful building, built between 1570 and 1578 at the initiative of Don Artal de Alagón y Luna, the 3rd Count of Sástago and Viceroy of Aragon. The master builder was the Moorish Lope del Chacho and elements of Moorish design were evident in various places. The palace served, in the past, as a sort of IBIS hotel for the kings and queens of Spain when they visited Zaragoza: it hosted Philip II in 1585, Charles IV and Maria Luisa of Parma in 1802, and Ferdinand VII in 1815. Actually, it was probably several steps above an IBIS! Since 1997 it has been used as an exhibition space for temporary exhibitions and the one there when we visited was about the development of hospitals in Zaragoza.
Our next stop was perhaps one of the wierdest. Looking at Google Maps we saw that there was a large statue of Caesar Augustus. Well we thought, we can’t miss that – the founder of Zaragoza in person, personified in stone in perpetuity. Even using Google Maps to navigate we struggled to find it and then … Anne spotted it – through an opening glass door into a shopping centre. Turned our that Caesar Augustus, though huge was personified in plastic, with a screen beside him showing the final of the Melbourne tennis Open between Alcaraz (Spanish) and Djokovic. We feel sure that Caesar Augustus would have enjoyed it, but he was looking the other way!
After a quick coffee, back to the hotel and then a taxi to the station, though it turned out we needn’t have rushed, the train was running an hour and a half late ….. In the end we were just an hour late in Nimes, but we had to pick up the hotel keys from a safe using various codes as the reception was shut …..