Sightseeing in Burgos

The image of Emperor Carlos V in the company of numerous local personages bears down from the Arco de Santa María, the main gateway into Burgos’ Casco Antiguo. It’s easiest to start a tour of the city at this point, with the river running by and marking the way to the two important sites outside the city (the Monasterio de las Huelgas to the west and La Cartuja de Miraflores to the east). The Catedral stands just inside the gate over the Plaza del Rey San Fernando. The Arco de Santa María, one of 12 gates that initially formed part of the medieval wall, was built in the 16th century and served as the meeting place of the powerful Consulado de Burgos until the 18th century.

La Catedral de Santa Iglesia

In 1221 King Ferdinand and the founding Bishop Mauricio laid the first stone of what would be Spain’s third largest cathedral, eclipsed only by those in Sevilla and Toledo. The old Romanesque cathedral had been leveled and the new one would take three centuries and a slew of architects to embellish completely (in the early stages the prolific Gil de Siloe and his son Diego had a hand). While it is often the case in Spain that constructions spanning hundreds of years tend to pick up and or evolve from one style to the next (a Baroque façade with Gothic towers and a Mudéjar cloister, for example), the cathedral of Burgos emerged with the purest French Gothic sensibilities. It has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The twin towers poking up from the corners of the main façade were added in the 15th century and measure 84 m (275 feet) high. Entrance is through the Puerta de Santa María below them. Just inside to the left is the papamoscas (fly-catcher), a weird figure/clock that marks the hours by swallowing invisible flies. The curiosities don’t stop here. To the right, the figure known as Christ the Saint of Burgos in the 14th-century Capilla de Santo Cristo is eerie enough, and just realistic enough, that church custodians prefer to tidy up its chapel during the day, when other people are around and all the lights are on. This crucifix figure of Jesus is a composite of animal and human parts and after seven centuries looks as if it could use a little nip and tuck.

Left of the transept, the immaculate Golden Staircase built by Diego de Siloé in the 16th century rises from the nave to an exterior door, making for what would be a rather grand emergency exit. The conspicuously marked tombs of El Cid and his wife Doña Jimenez lie below the elaborate 15th-century starred dome that casts light on the transept. The ostentation of these tombs is surpassed only by those of Don Pedro Fernández, the once enormously influential High Constable of Castile, who lies entombed alongside his wife in the garishly ornate Capilla de los Condestables just beyond the ambulatory. The Museo Catedralico is spaced around the 13th-century cloister with Flemish paintings on display, various El Cid regalia including his marriage papers and a priceless Visigothic bible.

Beneath the Ruined Castle

Near the backside of the Catedral is the Iglesia de San Nicolás, a little 15th-century church with a big altarpiece and a big painting. The polychrome altarpiece was carved in alabaster by Francisco of Cologne in the 16th century. The dizzying work expounds on the holy life and stories of Saint Nicholas through various depictions. The big, brooding painting is of 16th-century Flemish origin and depicts the Final Judgment.

Following the Calle Pozo Seco into the heart of the Barrio del Castillo leads to the Iglesia de San Esteban. If it weren’t for the show-stopping Catedral nearby, this church would impress. You might think it a modest Gothic feat but for the sheer age of the structure, which dates to 1280. The Museo de Retablo presents a compilation of 16th through 18th century altarpieces that have been raided from the various towns in the province.

The ruined castle seated on a hill now converted into the Parque del Castillo can be reached by taking the steps opposite the front entrance from the church. Within the park, the mirador del castillo gives high views of the Catedral and city around it. The castle was blown to bits during the NapoleonicWar. What’s left is a chalky white brick pile dating to the 11th century.

Outside the Casco Antiguo

In the park by the river I had asked an older man for directions to a restaurant in town, never having expected him to take me on a tour of the city that culminated at the desolate, almost ghost-town of the Royal Monastery of Las Huelgas. “Peregrino?” he asked. “No,” I said, “I’ve got a car.” The tour of the monastery consisted of his pointing at plaques and my reading them (the official and obligatory tour is given in Spanish every 30 minutes). What the man wasn’t telling me was that the monastery was founded in 1187 by Queen Leonor of Aquitaine, wife of Alfonso VIII. It’s a spectacular fenced complex and more than once my silent tourist guide shushed me so that I would not disturb the 35 Cistercian nuns living inside.

The church has three naves with a hoard of Gothic tombs attesting to its services as a pantheon; among the dead are King Alfonso VIII and his wife the founder, King Enrique I and his Queen Berenguela, and enough lesser royals linked to the Crown of Castile to fill a mass grave. Of its five chapels, the Mudéjar-style Capilla de Santiago contains a wooden image of the Apostle St. James with a moving arm once used to dub knights. The Sala Capitular (chapterhouse) displays the tent flap taken from the Moorish camp after the Christians had defeated them at Navas de Tolosa.

The Monastery was commissioned during a celebratory high following the victory. The monastery’s Museo de Ricas Telas (medieval fabrics museum) is rich from pillaging. It displays the standard taken from the Arabs at the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa and the royal garments taken from the cold bodies entombed in the monastery.

A fast walker can reach the Monasterio de las Huelgas Reales in 20 minutes from the Arco de Santa María. And it’s a nice walk through the gardens along the river. Exiting from the Arco de Santa María, make a right and follow the Paseo de la Isla as far as the circular Plaza de Castilla. Cross the bridge and continue in the same direction on the opposite river bank. Past the next block, the Avda Monasterio de Las Huelgas can be picked up on the left. The other option is to catch bus 5 or 7 at one of the stops on the avenue that follows the river (it has many names depending where you are: Avda Valladolid, Sierra de Atapuerca, La Merced – all the same).

Go the distance to the Carthusian monastery, La Cartuja de Miraflores, to see the beautiful works by Gil de Siloe, arguably the greatest 15th-century Spanish sculptor. The visit is restricted to the church built by Juan of Cologne in the Elizabethan Gothic style. Inside, Gil’s mastery is evident in the starry funerary statues of King Juan II of Castille and Isabel of Portugal, the parents of Isabel la Católica. He is also responsible for the tombs of Juan de Padilla and Isabel’s brother the Infante Alfonso, as well as the immaculate polychrome altarpiece, which is said to have been guilt with the first gold that arrived from the conquest of the New World. To reach the Cartuja de Miraflores you’ll more than likely want to catch the bus from Plaza de España. The nice walk follows the River Arlanzón to the east and makes a pass through the Parque de la Quinta; it takes upwards of an hour and is marked along the way.