"In northern Spain you will find the immortal city of Zaragoza, a welcoming, dynamic metropolis that has borne witness to more than 2,000 years of history." (Source)
It was not planned to visit Zaragoza, but my sister was living from the local airport back to Cork so we said to make a short stop and see what this city has to offer. Have a look what we managed to do in just a bit over 2h.
Puerta del Carmen.
Listed under the Cultural Interest property back in 1908, Puerta del Carmen is "a surviving example of what once were 12 entry gates to the walled city of Zaragoza. The gate looks ancient, but was actually built in 1789 in neoclassical style, hence its resemblance to Roman ruins." (Source)
Photography Laboratories in Zaragoza
While walking through the city I spotted this interesting corner and although I had no idea what it represented, I thought it should have a least some story behind it. As you know, I love discovering what is behind certain things and so I started asking google what he knows about this cornerand so I stumbled over the blog page of eszaragoza which explains that back in the days it used to be a pharmacy and perfume shop called Rived and also a photography laboratory. The Pharmacy is still there only in a smaller size and as the author of the article is highlighting it also gives an idea of what Zaragoza used to be. You can find this on the corner of Don Jaime with San Gil streets (Source)
Sculpture of Eduardo Jimeno
Considered to be a pioneer in the Spanish cinematography. Eduarod Jimeno bought his first Lumiere camera in 1896 in Lyon with the help of his father. He put together a short documentary film that was created by scene recorded from Pilar square over several days, the movie was released 1896. (inspired from). the statue was built in 1996 for the celebration of 100 years of Spanish cinematography by the sculptor Manuel Arcon.
La Seo de Zaragoza
The Cathedral of the Savior (English) "is part of the World Heritage Site Mudejar Architecture of Aragon. The cathedral is located on the Plaza de la Seo and is commonly known as La Seo (Spanish for "see") to distinguish it from the nearby El Pilar, whose name (pillar) is a reference to an apparition of Mary in Zaragoza (also known as Saragossa). They both share co-cathedral status in metropolitan Zaragoza." (Source)
Plaza del Pilar
Goya
Goya was born in a small village close to Zaragoza in a humble farmhouse dating from the early 18th century (Source). "Considered to be "the Father of Modern Art," he began his painting career just after the late Baroque period. [..] This bronze monument by Federico Mares (1960) of the painter Francisco de Goya, stands on a two white sandstone pedestals and holds a paint brush in his right hand and a bound artists book in his left arm, Goya is wearing period 1800 century cloths, with a long coat & high boots." (Source)
Basilica of Nuestra Senora del Pilar
"The Basilica venerates Blessed Virgin Mary, under her title Our Lady of the Pillar [...] Local traditions take the history of this basilica to the dawn of Christianity in Spain attributing to an apparition to Saint James the Great, the apostle who is believed by tradition to have brought Christianity to the country. This is the only reported apparition of Mary to have occurred before her believed Assumption. [...] The present spacious church in Baroque style was begun in 1681 by Charles II, King of Spain and completed in 1686.The early constructions were supervised by Felipe Sanchez and were later modified by Francisco Herrera the Younger under John of Austria the Younger.In 1725, the Cabildo of Zaragoza decided to change the aspect of the Holy Chapel and commissioned the architect Ventura RodrÃguez, who transformed the building into its present dimensions of 130 meters long by 67 wide, with its eleven cupolas and four towers. (Source)
Church of San Juan de los Panetes
"The baroque temple is raised in1725 on the plot of land of an earlier church, which belonged to the Order of San Juan de Jerusalem. The octagonal brick tower stands out, known due to its curious inclination, whose physiognomy reminds us of the 16th century construction tradition." (Source)
Fuente de la Hispanidad
The fountain was built in 1991 in neocolonialism style in honor of the Hispanicity (Hispanidad). The fountain has the shape of the map of Latin America.
Plaza de San Felipe
Iglesia de San Felipe y Santiago el Menor (Zaragoza)
Built between 1686 and 1691 in baroque style on top of a site of an old roman temple dedicated to Saint Felipe and Santiago. It was extended between 1714 and 1716. The most impressive part is the entry door and surrounding decorative elements. The stone elements including the columns you see in the picture below were built by Francisco de Urbieta. On top of each column there is a sculpture of the 2 saints and on top you have the image of Saint Elena.
Boy looking at the Leaning tower
Original name: Muchacho mirando a la Torre Nueva and was built by Santiago Gimeno Llop
The sculpture of the real size boy was raised as part of the memorial for the leaning tower.
The sculpture of the real size boy was raised as part of the memorial for the leaning tower.
The Leaning tower was built in Mudejar style and was the tallest of it's kind, due to the inclination it was demolished 1982 and in 1990 a memorial was built in it's place. Today the Memorial was also removed.
Side note: Mudejar also denotes a style of medieval Iberian architecture and decoration, particularly of Aragon and Castile, strongly influenced by Moorish taste and workmanship.
Side note: Mudejar also denotes a style of medieval Iberian architecture and decoration, particularly of Aragon and Castile, strongly influenced by Moorish taste and workmanship.
Eat @Montal Alimentacion
The restaurant is right in the square and has very good food, on top of this it has a gourmet shop inside and a "wine cellar"offering loads of option to pick from.
It was time to go, we still wanted to catch some light in Tarragona so we went off to our next location Catalonia
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