# .: Burgos - Capital of Castile :.



## cuartango (Apr 22, 2009)

Burgos, capital of Castile



Burgos is a Spanish city located at the north of the Iberian peninsula. It has 180.000 population, with another 20.000 in its metropolitan aerea. The Camino de Santiago goes throughout the city.



The city was founded during the Reconquista, in 884. Currently, it is one of the Spanish candidate cities to the 2016 European Capital of Culture.

I will upload one pic per week at least, showing its historic sites, life, urbanism and different events. Everybodye is welcome to upload or comment, of course 

I strongly recommend everyone to visit Burgos during any time in the year!


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## Nightsky (Sep 16, 2002)

Hope more photos will be added soon. The cathedral looks beautiful!
How far is it from Madrid?


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## cuartango (Apr 22, 2009)

Nightsky said:


> Hope more photos will be added soon. The cathedral looks beautiful!
> How far is it from Madrid?


Hi Nightsky, thanks for posting! 

Yes, I will try to add pictures weekly and with some variety, it is a small-medium city but very nice.

The Cathedral is absolutely wonderful, it is the only cathedral in Spain that is, by itself, UNESCO World Herigate Site, you will understand why if you visit it.

It is not far from Madrid. There is a direct highway from Madrid to Burgos, called A-1, it takes 240km (kind of 2h by car)

You can also travel there by bus (2h40min), and also there is a medium high speed train (2h 20min), but in 2015 there will be high speed trains that will make Madrid-Burgos in only 1h 24minutes.


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## Filandon (Jun 24, 2009)

Great idea of thread for a beatiful city, I can´t wait you to post, the city is really worthy and although is a historic town there also some great modern pieces of architecture.


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## cuartango (Apr 22, 2009)

ARCO DE SANTA MARÍA



This arc used to be the main entrance to the city during the medieval ages. It was one of the 12 access doors. It connects Santa María bridge over Arlanzón river with San Fernando plaza, where the Cathedral is.

It was built in the XV century, but redesign durint the XVI century, because of the visit to the city of the king Carlos. The figures represents different kings and lords of Castile.

It has a little museum inside of it, the entrance is free.


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## cuartango (Apr 22, 2009)

Filandon said:


> Great idea of thread for a beatiful city, I can´t wait you to post, the city is really worthy and although is a historic town there also some great modern pieces of architecture.


Thanks Filandon, hope this thread gets full of pics, this city must be known all around the world (if you have time and will, a thread about León would be amazing)


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## Filandon (Jun 24, 2009)

^^ I will consider your proposition cuartango, our cities have a lot in common even though each one has its own taste, but now let´s enjoy "Caput Castelae"  and make us enjoy by watching the amazing things you enjoy in your city. 

I would recommend that you also post some from Atapuerca, until its known, the oldest europeans lived there and the excavations found great things there to help explain lots of our ancestors life.


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## cuartango (Apr 22, 2009)

A picture of some new buildings constructed with public funds.



Theses buildings go near the river Vena, reciently fixed, now it is like a lineal garden, more than 3km long.


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

So far, very nice photos from Burgos; i will wait to see the rest of them


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## cuartango (Apr 22, 2009)

christos-greece said:


> So far, very nice photos from Burgos; i will wait to see the rest of them


Thanks! You haven't seen almost anything yet, hope you like the rest.

Next picture shows one of the most famous fountains in the city, called "Fuente de los delfines" ("Dolphins fountain"). When there is any sport victory, all the people in the city celebrates it here. I will post a better picture on it in other time.

Near this place the "Camino de Santiago" crosses the city.


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## hackmanjkk (Jul 2, 2009)

cuartango said:


> Burgos, capital of Castile
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I like this caltle.


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## cuartango (Apr 22, 2009)

hackmanjkk said:


> I like this caltle.


What do you mean by caltle? you mean the cathedral?


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## cuartango (Apr 22, 2009)

RÍO ARLANZÓN











The main river of the city is called *Arlanzón*. It crossing all the city from east to west, along more than 20 km in its surface. 

Burgos urbanism is based on this river. A lot of the old buildings and the population turn around the river, and it is pretty integrated in the city.

Also, it is the cleanest river crossing an Spanish city. This one is taken near the old area.


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## hackmanjkk (Jul 2, 2009)

^^ sorry . i really don't know. i can't distinguish.


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## cuartango (Apr 22, 2009)

hackmanjkk said:


> ^^ sorry . i really don't know. i can't distinguish.


No problem hackmanjkk 

I will post more pictures about the cathedral in the future, so you can get an image of it.


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## Falubaz (Nov 20, 2004)

The cathedral looks so huge! Really amazing. I'm waiting for more pics.


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## cuartango (Apr 22, 2009)

^^ It is quite big, although it is not one of the biggests in Spain.

The good thing of the Cathedral of Burgos is that it has the best arquitecture and sculpture of XVI century in Europe. You will see why. In this city, we sometimes called this Cathedral the 8th World Wonder (just joking). This building is the symbol of the city all around the world, and its greatest treasure.

*
The Burgos Cathedral *(_Catedral de Santa María de Burgos_) is a Gothic-style Roman Catholic cathedral in Burgos, Spain. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and is famous for its vast size and unique architecture. Its construction began in 1221 following French Gothic parameters.

It had very important modifications in the 15th and 16th centuries *(spires of the principal façade, Chapel of the Constable, cimborio of the transept: these elements of advanced Gothic give the cathedral its distinguished profile).* Also a lot of inside chapels were added from the XIV century all along to the XVIII century, so this means that this Cathedral has almost every style in it.

Let's start with a couple of picks:

Firstly, the main facade. The total height is kind of 80 meters (taller than Notre Dame in Paris; when I look to this Paris Cathedral, I find it like uncompleted).



The second one, from an street called _Fernán González_ (where the Camino de Santiago goes by), it like 20 meters higher than the floor. This picture was taken by me last summer.



I love Burgos beacuse it is a city with a lot and a pretty special day light. 

These are only 2 views of the Cathedral, with different pics I will show that there are plenty of more amazing views to it.


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## kingsway (Dec 15, 2009)

seems to be a nice city.
I like that gothic cathedral.


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## Nightsky (Sep 16, 2002)

Thanks for the answers. Nice posts of recent pictures also.


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## DWest (Dec 3, 2009)

what a charming city.
that gothic cathedral is one of a gem.


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## zsazsa (Jul 22, 2010)

Very good effort Cuartango, keep it up! 
This thread is very promising and the pics are fab.


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## cuartango (Apr 22, 2009)

Dante_1 said:


> Excellent thread *cuartango, thanks for all pics.
> We have a wonderful city.Keep it up :cheers:





zsazsa said:


> Very good effort Cuartango, keep it up!
> This thread is very promising and the pics are fab.


Thanks, of course everyone can post pics, this city has a lot to show.


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## cuartango (Apr 22, 2009)

In the castle, there is a viewpoint to the city, from north to south. This is the most famous view of the city for the tourist.

As you can see, the picture was taken in a snowy day. Burgos recieves snow like 10 times per year.


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## willo (Jan 3, 2005)

^^it's more like 20 snowy days (1971-2000 average)


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## cuartango (Apr 22, 2009)

willo said:


> ^^it's more like 20 snowy days (1971-2000 average)


Thanks for the correction willo, I didn't take into account any data, only an impression.

This picture was taken last summer, it is the main walk of the "La Isla" park. This park was created at the beginning of the XIX century, when the French army invaded Spain. It goes parallel to the Arlanzón. It is a very romantic and quiet place, perfect for a walking or just spending some time in nature.


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## cuartango (Apr 22, 2009)

The next photo is from the flickr profile of dvd_85.

It is one of the alleys of the Human Evolution Complex.

Glass, red and sky.


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## cuartango (Apr 22, 2009)

Another view of the Cathedral, from an upper plaza, near the _Mesón del Cid_


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## cuartango (Apr 22, 2009)

This photo is stored in wikipedia, it is a panoramic view of the city from the Castle.

Burgos is very large and pretty narrow. This is because of the river Arlanzón, which structures the urbanism.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us


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## SilverSamurai (May 26, 2011)

Amazing.
I've been lucky enough to visit Burgos and the detail on the cathedral is stunning. 
I will definitely go back at some point in the future.


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## cuartango (Apr 22, 2009)

SilverSamurai said:


> Amazing.
> I've been lucky enough to visit Burgos and the detail on the cathedral is stunning.
> I will definitely go back at some point in the future.


Thanks SIlverSamurai, you should come back for sure! 

Let's go now with some Cathedral pics.

This is the dome, a master piece from the XVI century by Juan de Vallejo. There was a previous dome built in the XV century, but it was so huge and tall that it collapsed. Juan de Vallejo built a new one, and the result is astonishing.



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## Ribarca (Jan 28, 2005)

Quality shots, beautiful city!


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## cuartango (Apr 22, 2009)

Thanks Ribarca! 

Another view of the Cathedral, this time from the "El Espolón", a nice walking park that I will explain in other posts.



Picture from wikipedia, here.


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## cuartango (Apr 22, 2009)

The "Puerta del Sarmental", is the south entrance to the Cathedral, date between 1230 and 1240.

It has one of the best gothic sculptures of Spain, a master piece that was copied all around the country after this.



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## cuartango (Apr 22, 2009)

The next picture shows one of the sides of the Plaza Mayor.

It is a place always full of people, used commonly to cross from the new part of the city to the old one. The buildings are pretty colorful.



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Picture from wikipedia


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## cuartango (Apr 22, 2009)

Some pics of the Cathedral, from the last Easter.

Sunnny day in Burgos.



The main nave, beautiful.





This is called the "Escalera Dorada", or "Golden stairs", dated in XVI century. It is famous all around the world, because of its classy design. Also, it has been copied all around the globe.



And my favourite one, the inside part of the dome :drool:


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## Caravaggio (Oct 17, 2009)

The cathedral is incredible unlike most gothic cathedrals this one is filled with light in part due to the white stone used to build it


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## cuartango (Apr 22, 2009)

Caravaggio said:


> The cathedral is incredible unlike most gothic cathedrals this one is filled with light in part due to the white stone used to build it


Yes, this kind of stone (we called here "caliza") is pretty white and perfect for a gothic cathedral.

Also, I have to add that the most part of the original stained glass windows were destroyed during the French invasion during 1812. However, the rest of the building was perfectly protected, fortunately.


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## cuartango (Apr 22, 2009)

Some pictures from buggl. The Museum of Human Evolution has been updated with LEDs, the result is impressive.



buggl said:


>


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## Linguine (Aug 10, 2009)

cuartango said:


> The next picture shows one of the sides of the Plaza Mayor.
> 
> It is a place always full of people, used commonly to cross from the new part of the city to the old one. The buildings are pretty colorful.
> 
> ...



Nice pano.....thanks.


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## kikeitor (Oct 15, 2004)

Good Job, i think Burgos is not very known sometimes in spain and abroad but this initatives help to promete our city! All my foreing clients aré extremely surprise of how beautiful this city!!!


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