ZARAGOZA, a city of Spain, in the corregimiento of that name, and the capital of the ancient kingdom of Aragon. It was built by the Roman colonists, and bore the name of Cæsar Augusta. It is about 175 miles from Madrid, and the same distance from Valencia. It stands on the right bank of the Ebro, over which are two bridges connecting the city with the suburbs. The streets are narrow, except one, the Cozo or Cosso, which runs the whole length of the town; and the houses are old, and, though not lofty, are highly ornamented. Zaragoza is the seat of an archbishop, and, besides a cathedral, had seventeen churches, and forty religious houses of different orders, for males and for females. One of the churches, called Our Lady of the Pillar, was the most celebrated in Spain, and, except that of Loreto, in Europe, from the number of pilgrims that every year resorted to it for devotional purposes. On a lofty pillar of jasper is an image of the holy virgin, the great object of adoration, and excitement to delusive feelings of devotion. In the rich and highly cultivated plain that surrounds the city, stand the ancient palace of the Alguferia, the residence of the kings of Aragon, and several monasteries.
A little below the city, that magnificent work the Canal of Aragon joins the river Ebro, which runs about 100 miles parallel to that river, and connects the provinces of Aragon and Navarre with the Mediterranean Sea. It is designed to assist commerce as a means of conveyance, and to supply to agriculture water for irrigating the fields. This canal has been constructed by the eminent civil engineer Don Ramon Pignatelli, and 3,250,000 livres had been expended when it was stopped. Had it been continued to Biscay, it would have brought the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Seas into commercial contact.
The great celebrity of this city arises from the firm defences made during two sieges, in the years 1808 and 1809, when the courageous and enduring spirit of an undisciplined and ill-armed population was assailed by two successive French armies, furnished with all that science could contribute to the art of war, and commanded by some of the most distinguished officers belonging to the armies of France.
From the latest accounts of this city, the actual population scarcely amounts to 40,000 persons, though it is capable of housing 150,000.