Courtesy of Valladolid City Council
The City
Valladolid is the largest city in the north-west of Spain, capital of the province of the same name, and seat of the Parliament and the autonomous government of Castilla y León, with a population around 300,000 people.
It is bordered by the provinces of Zamora, León, Palencia, Burgos, Segovia, Ávila and Salamanca. It is thus the only Spanish province surrounded entirely by other provinces of the same autonomous community. It is the only peninsular province which has no mountains.
Valladolid is in a valley and is watered by the river Pisuerga, the river Esgueva and the channel of Castilla. Valladolid has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate.
The term "Pucela" is also used, in a popular way, to name the city.
A Bit of History
The history of Valladolid is linked to some of the most important figures in Spanish history.
The Villa of Valladolid was founded in the 11th century by Count Pedro Ansúrez, converting Valladolid into a bureaucratic center.
On 19 October, 1469, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile (the Catholic Monarchs) married secretely in the Palacio de los Vivero. Christopher Columbus is said to have died in the city on 20 May, 1506. Also, in it Cervantes finished writing Don Quixote and Quevedo worked.
Valladolid has twice enjoyed the status of the country’s capital, under King Charles I in the 16th century and again from 1601 to 1606 under King Phillip III.
Culture
In its old town, it preserves a historical ensemble made up of palaces, noble houses, churches, squares, avenues and parks, together with a museum heritage in which the National Sculpture Museum, the Patio Herreriano Museum of Contemporary Art or the Oriental Museum, as well as the house-museums of José Zorrilla, Colón and Cervantes.
Among the events that are celebrated every year in the city are Holy Week, the Valladolid International Film Week (SEMINCI), the International Interior Tourism Fair (INTUR), Penguins (International Winter Motorcycle Rally), the National Snacks and Tapas Contest City of Valladolid or the Theater and Street Arts Festival (TAC).
