The
Sedetani, a tribe of
ancient Iberians, populated a village called ( in Roman sources).
Roman Caesaraugusta Augustus founded the city as
Caesaraugusta between 25 BC and 11 BC as a
colony to settle army veterans from the
Cantabrian wars. As a Roman city, it had all the typical public buildings:
forum,
baths,
theatre, and was an important economic centre. Many Roman ruins can still be seen in Zaragoza today. It is thought it might have been the
Apostle James who had built a chapel on the site of the
Cathedral-Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar. On the spot where
Saint Engratia and her companions were said to have been martyred on
Valerian's orders was the
Church of Santa Engracia de Zaragoza. Only the crypt and the doorway survived the
Peninsular War. Around the early 20th century it was rebuilt, and is now a functioning parish church.
Middle Ages Despite the general decline of the last centuries of the Roman empire, Zaragoza suffered little. Capture by the
Goths in the fifth century AD was without significant bloodshed or destruction. The taifa greatly prospered in a cultural and political sense in the late 11th century, and being later governed by
Ahmad al-Muqtadir,
Yusuf al-Mu'taman ibn Hud and
Al-Musta'in II. It fell to the
Almoravids in 1110. and made it the capital of the
Kingdom of Aragon. The aforementioned monarch created a jurisdictional dominion in the city, which was gifted to
Gaston of Béarn. The city remained a
lordship up until the early 13th century.
Jewish community There was a
Jewish community in medieval Zaragoza, a notable center where
yeshivas also incorporated the study of philosophy alongside
Talmud studies. In the 11th century, the city was home to several notable Jewish physicians, including Menahem ibn al-Fawwal and
Jonah ibn Janah, the latter of whom also gained renown as a Hebrew grammarian. Ibn Janah authored
Kitāb al-Talkhīṣ, which included detailed descriptions of drugs, weights and measures used in medicine. Another prominent figure was Jonah ibn Biklārish, who served as court physician to Sultan Al-Musta'in II and authored ''Kitāb al-Musta'īnī'', a drug manual written in table form that included names and properties of drugs. The community was spared from the
1391 pogroms, in large part due to the presence of the king and the intervention of the prominent Jewish leader
Ḥasdai Crescas. In 1481, the Crown appointed the monk Miguel Ferrer to enforce the segregation of Jewish households in Zaragoza, but his extreme cruelty led King
Ferdinand II to remove him from the post. On 29 April 1492, the Crown's decision to expel the Jews was announced in Zaragoza to the kingdom's procurators, two days before the
Edict of Expulsion was formally proclaimed in
Castile. It reportedly killed about 10,000 people out of an estimated population of 25–30,000. In the context of the 1701–1714
War of the Spanish Succession, the city rose in arms in favour of the
Archduke Charles, who was proclaimed "King of Aragon" in the city on 29 June 1706, following the uprising of other parts of the Kingdom of Aragon in December 1705. Charles entered the city in July 1706, directing the attack on those places of Aragon that had sided with the
Bourbon faction such as
Borja or the
Cinco Villas. Following the
April 1707 battle at Almansa, the tide turned with the
Austracist forces fleeing in disarray, and the Bourbon forces commanded by the
Duke of Orléans entering the city on 26 May 1707. As he seized control of the kingdom, he began to enact the series of institutional reforms known as the
Nueva Planta, abolishing the Aragonese institutions in favour of the Castilian ones. The war turned around again in 1710 after the
Battle of Almenar, and, following another
Bourbon defeat near Zaragoza on 20 August 1710, Archduke Charles returned to the city on the next day. Railway transport came to Zaragoza on 16 September 1861 with the inauguration of the
Barcelona–Zaragoza line with the arrival of a train from the former city to the
Estación del Norte. The
July 1936 coup d'état (with Gen.
Miguel Cabanellas, Col. , , , Major Cebollero and Gen. at the centre of the
Mola-led conspiration in Zaragoza) triumphed in the city. After the military uprising in Africa on 17 July, the military command easily attained its objectives in Zaragoza in the early morning of 19 July, despite the city's status as stronghold of organised labour (mostly
CNT anarcho-syndicalists but also
UGT trade unionists), as the civil governor critically refused to give weapons to the people in time. Many refugees, including members of the provincial committees of parties and unions, fled to
Caspe, the capital of the territory of Aragon, which was still controlled by the Republic. members in front of the Basilica of El Pilar (12 October 1936) The rearguard violence committed by the putschists, with at least 12 murders on 19 July, would only go
in crescendo along the beginning of the conflict. Thus one of the two big cities under Rebel control since the early stages of the
Spanish Civil War along with
Seville, Zaragoza profited from an increasing industrial production vis-à-vis the
war economy, playing a key role for the
Francoist faction as ammunition manufacturer. The
General Military Academy, a higher training center of the
Spanish Army, was re-established on 27 September 1940 by
José Enrique Varela, the
Francoist Minister of the Army. The
1953 Accords ensued with the installment of a joint
US–Spain air base in Zaragoza. Following the declaration of Zaragoza as ("Pole for Industrial Development") by the regime in 1964, the city doubled in population in a short time. The increase in population ran parallel to the
rural flight and depopulation in the rest of Aragon. In 1979, a fire at the
Hotel Corona de Aragón fire killed at least 80 people, including members of the family of Francisco Franco. The armed
Basque nationalist and separatist organization
ETA carried out the
Zaragoza barracks bombing in 1987 which killed eleven people, including a number of children, leading to 250,000 people taking part in demonstrations in the city. Since 1982, the city has been home to a large factory built by
General Motors for the production of
Opel cars, some of which are exported to the United Kingdom and sold under the
Vauxhall brand. The city took advantage of the entry of Spain into the European Communities (later European Union). == Geography ==