Burgos
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- For other meanings, see Burgos (disambiguation)
| City of Burgos | |
|---|---|
| Flag Image:Burgos-Bandera.jpg (In details) | Coat of arms (In details) |
| Image:Burgos, Spain location.png | |
| Province | Burgos |
| Autonomous community | Castilla y León |
| Postal code | 090xx |
| Coordinates - Latitude: - Longitude: | 42°21' N 3º42' W |
| Altitude | 856 m |
| Surface | 108 km² |
| Distances | 122 km to Valladolid 244,7 km to Madrid |
| Population - Total (census of 2005) - Density | 172.421 inhab. 1546 hab./km² |
| Demonym | Burgalés/Burgalesa |
| Rivers | Arlanzón Vena Pico Cardeñadijo |
| Mayor (2003- ) | Juan Carlos Aparicio (Partido Popular) |
Burgos is a city of northwestern Spain, at the edge of the central plateau, with about 170,000 inhabitants in the city proper and another 10,000 in its suburbs. It is the capital of the province of Burgos. The Burgos Laws or Leyes de Burgos were promulgated there in 1512.
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[edit] History
Founded in the 9th century, but retaining its Visigothic name signifying consolidated walled villages (burgos), the city was the seat of a Catholic bishop from the 10th century and became in the 11th century the capital of the Kingdom of Castile. Burgos was a major stop for pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela.
When the Romans took possession of what is now the province of Burgos it was inhabited by the Morgobos, Turmodigos, Berones and perhaps also the Pelendones, the last inhabitants of the northern part of the Celtiberian province; the principal cities, according to Ptolemy, included: Brabum, Sisara, Deobrigula, Ambisna Segiasamon and Verovesca (briviesca). In the time of the Romans it belonged to Hither Spain (Hispania Citerior) and afterwards to the Tarragonese province.
Burgos had been a Celtiberian city, part of the Roman province of Hispania Citerior and then of Hispania Tarraconensis. The Visigoths drove back the Suevi, then after a brief Moorish occupation, Alfonso III the Great, king of León reconquered it in the mid 9th century. Diego Rodríguez "Porcelos", count of Castile, gathered the inhabitants of the surrounding country into one fortified village, which took the name of Burgos. The city thus defined began to be called Caput Castellae ("Cabeza de Castilla" or "Head of Castille"). The territory (condado) of Burgos, subject to the Kings of Leon, continued to be governed by counts and was gradually extended; Fernán González, the greatest of these, established his independence.
The Arabs occupied all of Castile, though only for a brief period, and left no trace of their occupation. Alfonso III the Great reconquered it about the middle of the ninth century, and built many castles for the defence of the Christians, then extending their dominion and reconquering the lost territory. In this way the region came to be known as Castilla (Latin castella), i.e. "land of castles". Don Diego, Count of Porcelos, was entrusted with the government of this territory, and commanded to promote the increase of the Christian population. with this end in view he gathered the inhabitants of the surrounding country into one village, which took the name of Burgos, or burgi. The city thus bounded began to be called Caput Castellae. The territory (condado 'countship'), subject to the Kings of Leon, continued to be governed by counts and was gradually extended by victories over the Moors, until the time of Fernán González, the greatest of these rulers, when it became independent; it later on took the name of the Kingdom of Castile, being sometimes united with Navarre and sometimes with Leon. In the reign of St. Ferdinand III (c. 1200-52), Leon and Castile were definitely united, but they continued to be called respectively the Kingdom of Leon and the Kingdom of Castile until the nineteenth century.
In 1574 Pope Gregory XIII made its bishop an archbishop, at the request of king Philip II.
Burgos has been the scene of many wars: with the Moors, the struggles between León and Navarre, and between Castile and Aragon. In the Peninsular War against Napoleonic France, Burgos was the scene of a battle, and again in the 19th century Carlist civil wars of the Spanish succession. During the Spanish Civil War Burgos was the base of Gen. Franco's rebel Nationalist government.
[edit] Famous citizens
Among the famous laymen, the name of Rodrigo Díaz del Vivar (d. 1099), the Cid Campeador, naturally stands pre-eminent. He was the hero of his time, and the man most feared by the Musliùs, whom he defeated in innumerable encounters. He is buried in Burgos, in the monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña. Don Ramón Bonifaz was according to some authorities a native of Burgos, but in any event he lived there. St. Ferdinand entrusted to him the task of forming the Spanish squadron with which he established and maintained communication with the troops who were besieging Seville, and prevented the Moors from communicating with the city. One of his fleets destroyed the bridge by which the Moors had access to the outside world and received provisions; this brought about the surrender (1248) of the city of Seville to the Christians, led by St. Ferdinand himself.
[edit] Sights
Burgos still possesses more ecclesiastical monuments than any other Spanish city, not even excepting Toledo. The three most outstanding are the cathedral, with its chapel of the Condestable, the monastery of Las Huelgas and the Carthusian monastery of Miraflores. In addition to the collegiate churches of Lerma, Villadiego, Plampiega, Palenzuela, Cobarrubias and others, there are in Burgos alone many magnificent buildings. The cathedral, which its chapel of the Condestable, the monastery of Las Huelgas, and the Carthusian monastery of Miraflores, are museums of really permanent value.
Minor notable churches are: San Esteban, San Gil (Sancti Aegidii), San Pedro, San Cosme y San Damian, Santiago (Sancti Jacobi), San Lorenzo and San Lesmes (Adelelmi). The Convento de la Merced, occupied by the Jesuits, and the Hospital del Rey are also worthy of mention. In the walls of the city are the famous gateway of Santa María, erected for the first entrance of the Emperor Charles V, and the arch of Fernán González.
The diocese has two fine ecclesiastical seminaries. There are also many institutions for secular education. Schools are maintained in every diocese, the Instituto Provincial, and many colleges are conducted by private individuals, religious orders and nuns both cloistered and uncloistered.
[edit] Celebrated of Santa Agueda, commonly called Santa Gadea
This church is chiefly celebrated for its antiquity and for the historic fact that it was in this church that Alfonso VI, in the presence of the famous Cid Campeador (Rodrigo Díaz del Vivar), swore that he had taken no part in the death of his brother the king, Don Sancho, assassinated in the Cerco de Zamora; without this oath he never would have been allowed to succeed to the royal crown of Castile. In this church also the Augustinian friar, St. Juan de Sahagun, was wont to preach, hear confessions, and give missions, after he had renounced the canonry and other ecclesiastical benefices which he held in that diocese.
[edit] Burgos cathedral
The Gothic Cathedral at Burgos, begun in 1221, displays features of the 13th to 15th centuries. The west front is flanked by towers terminating in octagonal spires covered with open stonework traceries. The façade, in three stories, has triple entrances in ogival arched framing, with a gallery enclosed by a pinnacled balustrade and a delicately-pierced rose window. In the uppermost story there are two ogival double-arched windows and statues on pedestals, crowned with a balustrade of letters carved in stone: PULCHRA ES ET DECORA ("Beautiful art Thou, and graceful"), in the center of which is a statue of the Virgin. There are more balustrades and balconies in the towers, with further open-carved inscriptions: needle-pointed octagonal pinnacles finish the four corners.
The north portal, known as the Portada de la Coronería has statues of the Twelve Apostles. Above, ogival windows and two spires crown the portal. .
The magnificent octagonal Chapel of the Condestable is of flamboyant Gothic, filled with traceries, knights and angels and heraldry.
Burgos Cathedral is the burial place of the 11th-century warrior Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, El Cid, who was born in a little town near the city, now called Vivar del Cid.
Among the most famous of the bishops of Burgos is the 15th-century scholar and historian Alphonsus a Sancta Maria.
As an architectural monument this structure displays the best features of the art of the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It was commenced by Bishop Mauritius in 1221, in the reign of Ferdinand III and Beatrice of Swabia, and is Gothic in style. the principal façade, Santa María la Mayor, faces west, and on either side rise two towers about 262 feet in height, terminating in octagonal spires covered with open stonework traceries. The façade is composed of three stories, or sections. The first, or ground story has three ogival entrances with rectangular openings; the second has a gallery enclosed by a pinnacled balustrade and a rose window as delicately carved as a piece of lace, which admits some light into the church. In the upper-most story there are two double-arched windows of ogival style, with eight intercolumnar spaces, in each of which there is a statue on a pedestal. The whole is finished with a balustrade of letters carved in stone and forming the inscription: Pulchra es et decora (Thou art beautiful and graceful), in the centre of which is a statue of the Blessed Virgin. In the lateral sections (the towers) the windows are enclosed by stone balustrades, and the top is surmounted by balconies of stone surrounded by balustrades formed of Gothic letters in various inscriptions; needle-pointed pinnacles finish the four corners. The spires, as already said, are octagonal in shape; a gallery runs around the eight sides near the top, upon which rest the graceful points of the conical finial.
The north portal is known as the portada de la Coronería. In the lower portion of this are statues of the Twelve Apostles, the windows in the central section being of the primitive ogival style, and in the upper story there are three double-arched windows with statues joined to the shafts of the columns; two small spires, conical in shape like the main ones and decorated with balustrades, rise on either side of this façade. From the portal of the Coronería one can descend to that of the Pellerjería, which faces east and is of the Renaissance style known as the Plateresque. It is divided into three sections, the two end ones being alike, with the centre different in style and dimensions. The former are composed of pilasters minutely carved, between which four statues are placed. The middle section, which serves for an entrance, has three alabaster pilasters, the intercolumnar spaces bearing panel-pictures representing the martyrdom of saints. The façade as a whole gives the impression of a gorgeous picture, and the ornate and fantastic devices sculptured all over its magnificent surface are simply innumerable.
The octagonal chapel of the Condestable, of florid Gothic and very pure in design, is the best of the many chapels of the cathedral. Its roof if finished with balustraded turrets, needle-pointed pinnacles, statues, and countless other sculptural devices. In the lower portion coats of arms, shields, and crouching lions have been worked into the ensemble. The exterior of the sacristy is decorated with carved traceries, figures of angels and armoured knights. The tabernacle is of extraordinary magnificence and is composed of two octagonal sections in Corinthian style.
[edit] Monasterio de las Huelgas
Next to the cathedral in magnificence is the famous Monasterio de las Huelgas on the outskirts of the city. This royal monastery was founded in 1180by Alfonso VIII, and architecturally belongs to the transition period from Byzantine to Gothic, although in the course of time almost every style has been introduced into it. This convent has two remarkable cloisters, described by 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica as "unrivalled for beauty both of detail and design, and perhaps unsurpassed by anything in its age and style in any part of Europe": one a very fine example of the earlier period and of the use of semi-circular arches and delicate and varied columns; the other of the ogival style of the transition period. The interior of the church is in the style of the latter, enormous columns supporting its magnificent vault; the entrance is modern. This convent is celebrated for the extraordinary privileges granted to its abbess by kings and popes.
[edit] Cartuja de Miraflores
A very beautiful and life-like statue of St. Bruno carved in wood is one of the treasures of the monastery; the stalls in the church also display exquisite workmanship. The mausoleum of King John II and of his wife Isabel, in this monastery, is constructed of the finest marble and so delicately carved that portions seem to be sculptured in wax rather than stone. Around the top are beautiful statues of angels in miniature, which might be the work of Phidias. The French soldiers in the War of Independence (1814) mutilated this beautiful work, cutting off some of the heads and carrying them away to France.
The Carthusian monastery of Miraflores, noted for its strict observance, is situated about four kilometres from the historic city center. The mausoleum of King John II and of his wife Isabel, in this monastery, is carved of alabaster.
[edit] See also
[edit] Sources and external links
- This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia. [1]
- Camino de Santiago
- Ayuntamiento de Burgos
- Burgos Chamber of Commerce
- University of Burgos
- Burgos exporting companies
- Burgos news
- Museo Militar de Burgos
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