Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar

Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar tickets: which one to buy

The basilica is free to enter. Two things are ticketed and both are cheap: the museum of the Virgin's mantles, which displays the embroidered robes changed on the image through the year, and the lift up one of the corner towers, which gives a view over the Ebro and the roofs of the basilica's eleven domes. The tower is the better of the two. Guided tours of Zaragoza include the basilica and cost several times either.

Photography inside the chapel of the Virgin is forbidden. The basilica stands on the Plaza del Pilar, one of the largest squares in Spain, and is a ten-minute walk from the station side of the old town. Nothing needs booking, but the basilica is closed to visitors during the many daily masses. The mantle museum is entered from inside the basilica and has its own small desk near the chapel.

Visiting Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar: what to see

Tradition holds that the Virgin appeared to St James here in the year 40, standing on a pillar of jasper, and that he built a chapel on the spot, which would make this the first church anywhere dedicated to Mary; it is also the only reported apparition said to have occurred during her lifetime. The pillar itself, a small column of marble, stands in a chapel within the church, and pilgrims queue at an opening in its casing to kiss an exposed patch of the stone.

The present basilica was built between 1681 and 1872 to a design by Francisco Herrera and later Ventura Rodriguez, an enormous rectangle with four towers and a roof of tiled domes. Goya, who was born nearby, painted two of the cupolas. Two bombs dropped on the church during the civil war failed to explode and are displayed on a wall. The image of the Virgin is about 39 centimetres high and stands on the pillar itself, dressed in a different mantle almost every day of the year. Goya painted the cupola of the Regina Martyrum in 1780 and a second, earlier fresco in the choir loft, both of which can be seen from the floor.

Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar opening hours and the best time to go

Open daily from early morning to late evening, longer than most Spanish churches, with masses through the day. The feast of the Pilar on 12 October is the national day of Spain and the biggest festival in Aragon, when the square fills with a flower offering to the Virgin and the city is at capacity. Zaragoza is very hot in summer and cold in winter with the cierzo wind.

The tower closes in high wind. Dress modestly. Allow forty minutes, an hour with the tower. La Seo, the older cathedral at the other end of the square, has a Mudejar wall and a tapestry museum and is the better building architecturally. The Ebro bridges give the classic view of the basilica's towers and domes, and the walk across takes five minutes.