Poblet

The Royal Abbey of Santa Maria de Poblet was founded in 1151.

Monks from France founded the monastery in southern Catalonia.

In 1137 the marriage of Ramon Berenguer IV and Petronilla of Aragon unified the County of Barcelona with the Kingdom of Aragon to form the Crown of Aragon.

Numerous kings and queens are buried at Poblet Monastery.

The first buried there was King Alfonso II in 1196, who conquered Provence for Crown of Aragon until its loss due to the Battle of Muret during the Albigensian Crusade.

The next was King James I in 1276, who expanded the the Crown of Aragon to the Balearic Islands and Valencia.

Peter IV was buried there in 1387. Not only did he rule Aragon, Sardinia, Corsica, Barcelona, and Valencia, but later Athens and Neopatria.

King Alfonso V was buried in Poblet in 1458. He acquired the crown of Naples for the House of Transtamara and funded Skanderbeg's war against the Ottomans in Albania.

John II was the last king of independent Aragon, the father of Ferdinand II, and the last King of Aragon to be buried at Poblet Monastery.

The monastery was closed in 1835 when Isabella II confiscated numerous properties from the Catholic Church during the Carlist Wars.

The monastery was not repaired until the 1940s.

A little more than 30 monks from the Cistercian Congregation now live at the monastery. 

The monastery became a UNESCO site in 1991.

Poblet Monastery, despite its beauty and historical significance, doesn't seem to get too many visitors.

Grave stone from the 13th and 14th centuries

Use the handrail at your own risk.

Zaragoza

Zaragoza was the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon.

A monument to Zaragoza's two stout defenses against the French in the Peninsular War.

A relief of the coats of arms of the Kingdom of Aragon from the 15th century in the Zaragoza Museum.

A Roman mosaic of Eros and Pan from the 2nd century A.D.

Orpheus taming the beasts

Symbols from a 4th century agricultural calendar

A recreation of a Roman home in Zaragoza

Celt-Iberian helmets from the 3rd century B.C.

The coffin of a 15th century Countess of Barcelona

Jesus saves!

The 14th century tomb of a bastard of King James 1 the Conqueror.

A 16th century altarpiece with the coats of arms of Aragon on it 

Goya was a strange man

Very strange

This is not by Goya, but probably inspired by him.

One should not be surprised that Zaragoza has amazing tapas. Meli Del Tubo is a great place to try some.

Don't forget dessert!

The Cathedral-Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar is at the heart of the city.

The cathedral claims to be the first to be dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

There is a large plaza in front of the cathedral.

The current version of the cathedral was built in the 17-19th centuries.

Our Lady of the Pillar is the version of Mary that appeared to Saint James when he was having trouble converting people in Spain.

The Hispanic Fountain

The church next to our hotel

The Zaragoza Argonath?

A memorial to Francisco Goya, who was from Zaragoza.

The Cathedral of the Savior of Zaragoza, or La Seo, is the other major cathedral in Zaragoza.

It was originally a mosque.

When Alfonso the Battler took over Zaragoza in 1118, he did not destroy the building, but gave the Muslims one year to leave town.

The ceiling of another church

Zaragoza is famous for the Fiesta del Pilar and its glass floats.

The Alcazar

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Pillar

An unfortunate Dominguito del Val float, a child who was the subject of an anti-Semitic blood libel story

Zaragoza was originally inhabited by an Iberian tribe, but later heavily developed by the Romans.

Aljaferia Palace was built by the Taifa of Zaragoza in the 11th century.

The palace requires online reservations at least a day in advance to visit.

It is one of the most important examples of Spanish Islamic architecture after the Mosque-Cathedral in Cordoba and the Alhambra.

The castle served as the residence of the Kings of Aragon until the crowns merged in 1492.

The regional parliament now calls the castle home.

The president of the Cortes of Aragon gets a pretty cool portrait background.

Zaragoza was called Salude or Salduba before Roman times. The Arabs used this name and called is Saraqusta, from which Zaragoza was derived.

Romans ruled the city as Caesaraugusta from just before Christ until the 5th century, when it was taken over by Goths.

The Umayyads conquered the city in the 8th century. 

The Caliphate of Cordoba collapsed in the 10th century, and Zaragoza became the capital of its own taifa, or state.

Its hard not to order churros and chocolate in every city in Spain.

A big Caesar

More tapas!

The remains of the Roman forum are under La Seo.

A depiction of a local 4th century Christian martyr in the Alma Mater Museum.

An old Islamic map in the 

Roman ruins are everywhere under the city.

The Goya Museum has an extensive collection.

His prints are the best.

Bravissimo! 

This guy is such a donkey, his family tree is full of donkeys.

Zaragoza is one of Spain's great cities!