On the banks of Spain's mightiest river, a tradition tells that the Virgin appeared to the apostle James on a pillar while she was still living in Jerusalem. Around that column grew one of the largest basilicas in the country, and around the basilica a city founded by Augustus that was later Muslim, capital of the kingdom of Aragon and heart of a crown that came to rule Sicily and Naples. Twelve stops between the square of the four towers, the chapel of the column, Goya's domes, the bombs that never exploded, the bridge over the Ebro, the Roman forum beneath the pavement, the cathedral where kings were crowned, the Mudejar tower of La Magdalena, the theatre for six thousand spectators, the narrow lanes of El Tubo, the emperor's wall and the palace of joy of the taifa kings. Approximate audio duration: 26 minutes.
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Zaragoza: la Virgen del Pilar, el Ebro y dos mil años de ciudad
A orillas del río más caudaloso de España, una tradición cuenta que la Virgen se apareció al apóstol Santiago sobre una columna, cuando ella todavía vivía en Jerusalén. Alrededor de ese pilar creció una de las basílicas más grandes del país, y alrededor de la basílica, una ciudad fundada por Augusto que fue musulmana, capital del reino de Aragón y corazón de una corona que llegó a gobernar Sicilia y Nápoles. Doce paradas entre la plaza de las cuatro torres, la capilla de la columna, las cúpulas de Goya, las bombas que no estallaron, el puente sobre el Ebro, el foro romano bajo el suelo, la catedral donde se coronaban los reyes, la torre mudéjar de La Magdalena, el teatro de seis mil espectadores, las callejuelas del Tubo, la muralla del emperador y el palacio de la alegría de los reyes taifas. Duración aproximada de audio: 26 minutos.
Tour stops
12 stops · ~26 min of audio · 4.24 km on foot (~1 h 5 min walking) · about 1 h 45 min in total
You are standing in the Plaza del Pilar, one of the largest pedestrian squares in Europe. Before you stretches the facade of the basilica, with its four corner towers and a cluster of domes tiled in green, blue, yellow and white.
This building took almost three centuries to complete. Work began in 1681, under King Charles II, and the last of the four towers was only finished in 1961. It is about one hundred and thirty metres long and has eleven domes.
It all began, tradition says, with a column. In the year 40, the story goes, the apostle James was preaching in Hispania with little success. …
2
The Column and the Thirty-Eight-Centimetre Virgin
You are in front of the Holy Chapel, the marble shrine at the centre of the basilica. Inside, on a column covered with a mantle, stands a figure whose size surprises many visitors: the Virgin of the Pillar is only thirty-eight centimetres tall.
It is a Gothic carving in gilded wood from the early fifteenth century. It is attributed to the sculptor Juan de la Huerta and was made after a fire in 1434 damaged the medieval church that stood on this spot.
What is truly venerated is not only the image but the column it stands on. According to tradition, it is the very pillar on which the Virgin ap…
3
Goya Paints the Sky and Quarrels with His Brother-in-Law
You are beneath the domes of the basilica. Several are painted in fresco, and two of them bear the hand of a painter who was not yet famous: Francisco de Goya, born in 1746 in Fuendetodos, a village about forty kilometres from here.
In 1772, aged just twenty-five, Goya received his first major commission: the vault over the small choir beside the Virgin's chapel. He painted the Adoration of the Name of God, a sky of angels around a triangle bearing the divine name in Hebrew. It was the work that made him known in his city.
Eight years later he returned with greater ambition. In 1780 and 1781…
4
The Bombs That Did Not Explode
Look at what hangs on the wall of this pillar: two aerial bombs, dark and elongated. They are not replicas or works of art. They fell on this basilica during the Spanish Civil War.
It was 3 August 1936, barely two weeks after the war began. Zaragoza had fallen to the rebel military, and a Republican aircraft flew over the city and dropped bombs on the church.
One went through the roof near the Holy Chapel. Others fell on the basilica and the square. None of them exploded.
For many devotees it was a miracle of the Virgin, and the news was used as propaganda in the middle of the war. Others p…
5
The Ebro, the River That Named Iberia
You are on the Stone Bridge, with the Ebro flowing beneath your feet. Turn towards the city: from here you have Zaragoza's most famous view, the whole basilica reflected in the water, with its towers and coloured domes.
The Ebro carries more water than any other river in Spain. It rises in Cantabria and runs more than nine hundred kilometres to the Mediterranean. The Greeks and Romans called it Iber or Hiberus, and from that name comes the word Iberia, which eventually came to mean the whole peninsula.
Without this river there would be no city. This was a place to cross the valley, and for c…
6
Caesaraugusta Beneath Your Feet
Look at the glass prism rising from the pavement of the square. It is the entrance to the Museum of the Forum of Caesaraugusta. Beneath your feet, several metres down, lies the centre of the Roman city.
Before Rome there was an Iberian settlement here called Salduie. Around 14 BC, the emperor Augustus founded on this site a colony for veterans of his legions, who had just fought in the wars against the Cantabrians.
He named it Caesaraugusta. It was the only city in the empire to carry the emperor's full name, Caesar Augustus. And the name survived: the Arabs pronounced it Saraqusta, and from…
7
La Seo, Where the Kings of Aragon Were Crowned
You are in front of the cathedral of the Saviour, which the people of Zaragoza call La Seo. Zaragoza thus has two cathedrals: this one, the older as the bishop's seat, and the Pilar. Notice how the Baroque facade and tower contrast with what comes next.
Walk around the building to the left as far as the outer wall of the chapel known as the Parroquieta. You will see a brick wall covered in geometric patterns and pieces of green and white ceramic. This is Mudejar art, from the fourteenth century.
Mudejar is the style of the Muslims who stayed on under Christian kings after the conquest. They …
8
La Magdalena, a Brick Tower and a Neighbourhood with Character
You are in the Plaza de la Magdalena, in front of one of the most beautiful towers in Zaragoza. Look at it from bottom to top: brick laid in diamond patterns, interlaced arches and small ceramic pieces that gleam when the sun catches them.
The tower is Mudejar, from the fourteenth century, and is part of the same World Heritage group as the wall of La Seo. The church below is more recent: it was rebuilt in Baroque style in the eighteenth century, but the tower was kept.
Many experts believe that Aragon's Mudejar towers are inspired by minarets, the towers of mosques. Look at the shape: it is…
9
A Theatre for Six Thousand, Hidden Beneath the Houses
You are in front of the Roman theatre of Caesaraugusta. Look at the semicircular tiers, sheltered by a large modern canopy and surrounded by the buildings of the district as if the city had wrapped its arms around them.
It was built in the first half of the first century AD, under the emperors Augustus and Tiberius. It could hold about six thousand people, making it one of the largest theatres in Roman Hispania.
Comedies and tragedies were staged here, but it was also a place of propaganda. Seats were allocated by social rank: officials below, close to the stage, and the common people in the…
10
El Tubo, the City You Eat Standing Up
You are in El Tubo, a network of narrow lanes between the Calle Alfonso I and the Coso. Look up: the buildings stand so close that the sky is just a strip. That is where the name comes from, because walking these streets is like entering a tube.
This is the heart of Zaragoza's tapas culture. Within a few metres there are dozens of bars, many with tiny counters where you eat standing and move on to the next. The streets Estébanes, Libertad and Cuatro de Agosto are the best known.
Look at what is on the counters. You will see grilled mushrooms, croquettes, migas and bites of ternasco, Aragon's…
11
The Wall and the Emperor's Statue
You are in front of a stretch of the Roman wall of Caesaraugusta, beside the Central Market. Look at the great stone blocks and the remains of the semicircular towers. In front, on a pedestal, stands the bronze statue of the founder: Caesar Augustus.
The wall you see is from the late Roman period, when the cities of the empire strengthened their defences against instability. It ringed the urban core and had dozens of towers. The Coso and the Avenida de César Augusto roughly follow its line today.
The statue is a copy of the famous Augustus of Prima Porta, kept in the Vatican Museums. It was …
12
The Aljafería, the Palace of Joy
You are in front of the Aljafería palace, its walls and towers ringed by a moat. From outside it looks like a fortress. Inside it holds one of the most important ensembles of Islamic art in Europe.
It was built in the second half of the eleventh century by order of Abu Jafar al-Muqtadir, king of the taifa of Saraqusta, one of the small kingdoms into which al-Andalus had split. The word Aljafería comes from the name Abu Jafar. He called it the palace of joy.
Go into the Courtyard of Saint Isabel and look at the arches. They cross, interlace and open into lace-like forms, as if stone and plast…
How long does the "Zaragoza: the Virgin of the Pillar, the Ebro and Two Thousand Years of City" audio tour take?
It has about 26 minutes of audio across 12 stops and a 4.24 km walking route (~1 h 5 min on foot). Plan roughly 1 h 45 min in total, or split it up: you can pause and resume anytime.
Where does the tour start?
At stop 1, "The Square of the Four Towers" (coordinates 41.6563, -0.8785). The app guides you from stop to stop with a map.
Is it free?
Trevurs is a free app for iOS and Android. There is also an optional Premium version, from USD 1.99, with unlimited offline downloads, access to every tour and no ads. It also helps keep an independent app alive.
Why use an audio tour instead of a guided group tour?
No group to keep up with and no guide to wait for. Start at any time of day, on your own schedule. Go at your own pace: pause, rewind or skip any stop. No need to commit 2 or 3 hours to a single tour: do one stop or the whole route. Works offline once downloaded.
What languages is this audio guide available in?
This tour is available in Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, Italian. Switch languages anytime from inside the app.
Do I need wifi to listen to this tour?
No. Download the tour over wifi before you go, then listen without any data connection.
How do I access this tour?
Download Trevurs on iPhone (App Store) or Android (Google Play), then open Zaragoza and pick "Zaragoza: the Virgin of the Pillar, the Ebro and Two Thousand Years of City". No account required to start.
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