Burgos

Burgos, city, capital of Burgos provincia (province), in Castile-León comunidad autónoma (autonomous community), northern Spain. It is located on the lower slopes of a castle-crowned hill overlooking the Arlanzón River, about 2,600 feet (800 metres) above sea level. Founded in 884 as an eastern outpost of the Asturian kingdom by the Castilian count Diego Rodríguez Porcelos, it became the capital of the county and, later, of the kingdom of Castile. In 1494 all foreign trade of Castile, particularly in fine wool, was put under the jurisdiction of the Burgos Guild, the shipping department of which became the model for the famous Casa de Contratación (House of Trade) at Sevilla. Burgos enjoyed the prestige of a capital city until the reign of Philip II (1556–98); then it sank to political insignificance after 1560, when Madrid (150 miles [240 km] south) was declared the única corte (“only court”). With the decline of Castilian trade, Burgos languished until its revival in the 18th century under Charles III. In the Peninsular War the French, in 1808, defeated the Spaniards at Burgos. The French in turn were besieged in the city in 1812 by the British, who eventually captured it in 1813. In July 1936 conservative Burgos became the official seat of Gen. Francisco Franco’s Nationalist government during the Spanish Civil War and was a base for campaigns toward Madrid and the Basque states.

Burgos is the see of an archbishopric that comprises the dioceses of León, Santo Domingo, and Santander. The city’s cathedral, founded in 1221 by Ferdinand III of Castile and the English bishop Maurice of Burgos, is a fine example of florid Gothic (completed 1567) and has 15 chapels. It was added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1984. The bones of the 11th-century hero known as El Cid (Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, who was born about 1043 at nearby Vivar del Cid) and of his wife, Jimena, have rested there since 1919, and there are numerous relics of El Cid and other treasures. In the aisleless Gothic church of Santa Agueda, or Santa Gadea, tradition relates that El Cid compelled Alfonso VI of León, before his accession to the throne of Castile in 1072, to swear that he was innocent of the murder of Sancho, his brother and predecessor on the throne. Other historic landmarks include the Gothic churches of San Nicolás (1505) and San Esteban (1280–1350); the monastery of Santa María la Real de las Huelgas, which was originally a summer palace of the kings of Castile and was transformed into a Cistercian convent in 1187 by Alfonso VIII; and numerous convents and monasteries in the environs of the city.

Burgos is an agricultural centre; its manufactures include foodstuffs, liquor, flour, woolen and leather goods, chemical fertilizers, metal, chocolate, and paper. Finance and public administration are the main service activities. Pop. (2019 est.) 175,821.