Zaragoza, (English Saragossa). Industrial
city (iron, steel, chemicals, plastics,
canned food, electrical goods) in Aragon,
Spain; population (1996) 596,000. The
medieval city walls and bridges over the
river Ebro survive, and there is a
15th-century university. history founded as
Salduba in pre-Roman days, it took its
present name from Roman conqueror Caesar
Augustus; later it was captured by Visigoths
and Moors and was taken in 1118 by Alfonso
the Warrior, King of Navarre and Aragon,
after a nine-month siege. It remained capital
of Aragon until the end of the 15th century.
From June 1808 to Feb 1809, in the Peninsular
War, it resisted a French siege. Maria
Augustin, known as the `Maid of Zaragoza',
died 1859, became a national hero for her
part in the defence; her story is told in
Byron's Childe Harold 1812-18.