ZARAGOZA CIVITAS

Zaragoza has been selected by Roberto Amati in relation to the real history of european integration, then enlisted in the CITY OR CIVITAS category, accompanied by own fact SHEET useful to the comprehension, completed of historical MAPS AND IMAGES or with a direct linking to the related Blog contents dedicated to the entire history of european integration and the future of Europe.

Zaragoza is one of the most ancient cities of the history of European integration, signed in great part by Christianity. The Civitas Zaragoza was founded in 25 B.C. by Romans, on the Ebro river and the depressed valley just over the Pyrenees towards the Mediterranean sea. The original Colonia was built by the Legio X Gemina and VI Victrix Legios to fight the local Celtiberians people, first inhabitants of the civitas included in the Roman Res Public. At the end of the Cantabrian war, Zaragoza was connected to the civitas of Astorga and Bordeaux through the Asturica Burdigalam way by the crossing point of Pamplona castra, one of the ending stop of the Tarraconensis way up to the civitas of Tarragona, and to Merida civitas by the Caesaraugustana way passing through the civitas of Toledo.

Within the reform of Augustus (see Roman Empire), Zaragoza was part of the Hispania Tarraconensis province and obtained the building of many public houses and services becoming an important economic centre. With the reform of Constantine I (see Christian Empire), Zaragoza became one of the first Christian communities already in I century B.C. within the Catholic Diocesis of Hispania. The legend narrows of the miraculous apparition of St. Mary standing on a pillar to the Apostle Saint James "the great" (venerated in Compostela), event commemorated with the city catholic basilica of Nuestra Senora de Pillar and by the annual Fiestas de Zaragoza el Pilar event.

At the falling of Western Roman Empire, the city was included in the Visigoths Regna and involved in the fight against the Arianism eresy, then persecuted by the Catholics Church of Rome and the Byzantine empire until the Visigoths kings converted to ortodoxy. But from the VIII century A.D., after the Arabs conquer, Zaragoza was elevated to capital of a march of their Al-Andalus reign before to get independence as "taifa" controlled by many Saracen's families until the city was conquered by Alfonso I, who made Zaragoza capital of his kingdom of Aragona. In 1150 A.D. his nephew Petronilla married Ramon Berenguer IV Count of Barcelona and together formed the Crown of Aragon controlled for centuries by the Bellonidi dinasty, an international power extended in the Mediterranean sea and southern Italy finally joined in XV century A.D. to the new Spain Kingdom, following its destiny.

The Zaragoza centre collect the "Mudéjar Architecture of Aragon" enlisted in the UNESCO World Heritage as an example of spanish christian culture and folklore, such ad "The Fiestas del Pilar" among the most celebrated festivals in Spain calling every years thousands of people from everywhere. The city University is one of the ancient of Spain, established in 1542 A.D. on the roots of the roman and medieval ecclesiastical school. Nowadays, Zaragoza is a big size town in the north-east of Spain, capital of the Aragon autonomous community, whose patron is Saint Valerius of Zaragoza, the bishops of the city during the Diocletian persecution.

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