Zaragoza - Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar

Between the Plaza del Pilar and the Ebro is Zaragoza's second cathedral, the pilgrimage church of Nuestra Señora del Pilar, or Virgen del Pilar, the best view of which is from the opposite bank of the Ebro. The church was built on the spot where, according to the legend, the Virgin appeared on January second in the year 40 to the Apostle James, then on his way to Compostela. A chapel was later built round the pillar on which she stood, and the latest successor to the original chapel still contains a much venerated marble pillar.

The present church is a rectangular structure, 132m/433ft long by 67m/220ft across, with a large central dome, ten smaller azulejo-clad domes and four tall corner towers. Begun by Francisco Herrera the Younger in 1681 and continued by Ventura Rodríguez in 1753, it was completed in its present form only at the end of the 19th century.