Aragon Guide

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  Basilica del Pilar towers

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  Inside El Pilar

Rising from the banks of the river Ebro as it passes through Zaragoza is the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pilar, a jewel of Aragonese Baroque art. The Cathedral, visited dialy by thousands of the faithful and pilgrims, houses the image of our lady of the Pilar. According to tradition, the Virgin Mary came to Zaragoza to console and encourage St. James the Apostle who was preaching the Gospel there. She left the Apostle a column or pilar around which the first chapel was built. This was in fact the first church dedicated to the Virgin Mary en Christendom.

The Basilica, with large dimensions and different construction and ornamental styles, was raised on an original Mozarabic church, to be later converted into a Romanesque temple. On the inside, the oldest part and one with the greatest artistic interest is the Western area, where the chorus is situated, the organ stand and, above all the impressive Gothic altarpiece in alabaster by Damian Forment and recently restored. This part corresponds to the Gothic-Mudejar reconstruction of the temple after being devastated in the 15th century.

The area most visited is the eastern part of the temple, because this is where the Holy Chapel, by Ventura Rodriguez (1754) is built, which houses the venerated image of the Virgin. Around the Holy Chapel are the vaults or domes painted by Francisco de Goya.