Tuesday 20 February 2018

TRAVEL TUESDAY #119 - VALLADOLID, SPAIN

“In Spain, the dead are more alive than the dead of any other country in the world.” - Federico Garcia Lorca 

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Valladolid is a city in Spain and the de facto capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It has a population of 309,714 people (2013 est.), making it Spain's 13th most populous municipality and northwestern Spain’s biggest city. Its metropolitan area ranks 20th in Spain with a population of 414,244 people in 23 municipalities. The city is situated at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers 15 km before they join the Duero, and located within five winegrowing regions: Ribera del Duero, Rueda, Toro, Tierra de León, and Cigales.

Valladolid was originally settled in pre-Roman times by the Celtic Vaccaei people, and later the Romans themselves. It remained a small settlement until being re-established by King Alfonso VI of Castile as a Lordship for the Count Pedro Ansúrez in 1072. It grew to prominence in the Middle Ages as the seat of the Court of Castile and being endowed with fairs and different institutions as a collegiate church, University (1241), Royal Court and Chancery and the Royal Mint.

The Catholic Monarchs, Isabel I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, married in Valladolid in 1469 and established it as the capital of the Kingdom of Castile and later of united Spain. Christopher Columbus died in Valladolid in 1506, while authors Francisco de Quevedo and Miguel de Cervantes lived and worked in the city. The city was briefly the capital of Habsburg Spain under Phillip III between 1601 and 1606, before returning indefinitely to Madrid. The city then declined until the arrival of the railway in the 19th century, and with its industrialisation into the 20th century.

The Old Town is made up of a variety of historic houses, palaces, churches, plazas, avenues and parks, and includes the National Museum of Sculpture, the Museum of Contemporary Art Patio Herreriano or the Oriental Museum, as well as the houses of José Zorrilla and Cervantes which are open as museums. Among the events that are held each year in the city there is Holy Week, Valladolid International Film Week (Seminci), and the Theatre Festival and street arts (TAC).

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

4 comments:

  1. It sounds like a lovely city. I was able to travel in Spain last year about this time to Madrid, Avila, Montserrat, and Barcelona and it was really very beautiful. Thank you!

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  2. What a wonderful blog post, and I absolutely love this bit: "In Spain, the dead are more alive than the dead of any other country in the world.” I must share it with my husband. We have been worrying about Spain, one of our favourite countries, with the recent unrest over Catalonia.
    Kay
    An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

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  3. Sounds like a lovely city, and one I never heard of before. We spent 10 weeks driving and living in Spain a few years ago, but missed this entire region.

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  4. That's a very intereating quote to ponder...lovely city too!

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