Zaragoza

Quick Facts

Type: City Break
Best Date to Visit: ?
Expense: Cheap
Things to Do: Sightseeing, Visit Museums
Points of Interest: Plaza del pillar square, Nuestra Señora del Pilar Basilica, Aljaferia Palace, Zaragoza market, Goya Museum, Caesar Agustas Museum.
The Good:
The Bad:

Brief

The city of Zaragoza is the capital of ‘Aragon’ a region on the north east of Spain. Zaragoza is a growing city with a population of over 600,000 people, the city is well known for being a place for pilgrimage.

The Place

Zaragoza for me was a quick visit, and I don’t think you can stay longer than 2 nights without roaming the city over and over again, resulting in boredom. One thing is clear and that  it is a place for many museum exhibition, whether cultural, historic, religious and arts.

The cover attraction of Zaragoza is the ‘Nuestra Señora del Pilar Basilica’ which towers high in the main square of Zaragoza the ‘Plaza del Pillar Square’. The Basilica which is a Roman Catholic church, dedicated to the virgin Mary under her title lady Pillar which Pope John Paul praised as the mother of the Hispanic people. Situated at the centre of Zaragoza, the basilica is visited by many tourists for its beauty, overlooking the Ebro river there are many angles for a terrific photograph. However the Lady Pillar basilica is a operating church and going inside strict rules are applied, firstly you wont be able to enter if you have a vest or unappropriate clothing and at many areas of the church, picture or video taking is not allowed.

Surrounding the basilica there are many other different monuments, museums and churches  for visitors. Many museums are free however some such as the ‘Goya Museum’ have an entrance fee. Surrounding ‘Plaza del Pilar Square’ there is an arcade full of shops, many retails shops and some antique and older boutiques. A great aspect of Zaragoza are the free walking tours the Zaragoza has to promote the city you could see many different groups and with all different languages.

My Conclusion

Overall Zaragoza is a well thought out medium sized city, which visibly wants its tourist industry to grow. For me Zaragoza was amazing, but could have done with more people (tourists) around to liven up the city as it was very empty, however the hotel did tell me that I was in the wrong time (July) for tourists. Nonetheless I can see the city has its strong aim to promote tourism in their city and I can see the future is very bright for them.

Categories: Europe, ProfileTags: Europe, Profile, Spain