The Aljafería is the one great building in Zaragoza that tells you the city was once Muslim. It was built in the eleventh century as a pleasure palace for the Hudid rulers of the taifa of Zaragoza, a small independent kingdom that emerged when the caliphate of Córdoba collapsed, and its inner courtyard, with slender arches that interlace and curve, is one of the finest examples of Islamic architecture in the north of Spain. After the Christian conquest in 1118, it became a royal residence of the kings of Aragón, and the Catholic Monarchs added a sumptuous palace with gilded ceilings in the late fifteenth century. In the nineteenth century, it served as a barracks, and today it is the seat of the Aragonese parliament. The Mudéjar parts, the work of Muslim craftsmen who stayed after the conquest, are part of a UNESCO listing for Mudéjar architecture in Aragón.
Verdi's opera Il trovatore is set partly in the Aljafería, which adds a note of romance to the stone. The building stands on the western edge of the old centre, a short way from the Ebro, and it is a good stopping point if you want to feel the layers of the city's past.
Zaragoza is a big, flat, handsome city of more than six hundred thousand people, strung along the Ebro, with a great baroque basilica to the Virgin of the Pilar on the riverbank and a lively tapas district in the old quarter. The main hazard for a rider is the Cierzo, the dry, cold north-westerly that sweeps the Ebro valley and can blow hard for days, especially in winter and spring.
Riding in the city is not difficult, though trams and one-way systems need attention, and traffic is dense at rush hours. Parking a motorbike near the palace is generally easy. Fuel is no problem anywhere in the city, and you will find plenty of cafes around the old centre. Spring and autumn are the best seasons, with mild weather, and a long, unhurried lunch is the right way to end a visit.