Saragossa, << `sar` uh GOS uh, >> also spelled Zaragoza, << `zahr` uh GOH zuh >> (pop. 675,301), is an industrial and trading center in northeastern Spain. The city has metalworks, sugar refineries, chemical plants, and factories that manufacture electrical equipment, agricultural machinery, and furniture.
The central part of Saragossa is a district of ancient, crowded lanes and dilapidated houses. An attractive newer section has grown up around the old quarter.
The city’s name comes from Caesarea Augusta, which was the name Emperor Augustus gave to the settlement in 25 B.C., when he made it a Roman colony. Saragossa was the capital of the old kingdom of Aragon from the 1100’s to the 1400’s.
