The Royal Monastery of Huelgas, run by Cistercian sisters, was founded in 1187 by Alphonsus VIII and his wife Leonor.
In the first building, which was constructed by Alphonsus VIII between 1180 and 1190, the highlights are the Romanesque cloister and the Chapel of the Assumption, which is in the purest Almohad style of art.
Later on, well into the first half of the 13th century, the second construction was started, the great work of the current temple, cloister and adjoining premises - the capitulary room, refectory and cellar - built during the reign of Ferdinand III.
The will of both Alphonsus VIII and Leonor, expressly manifested in 1199, was that Huelgas should become the royal pantheon. The naves of the temple, occupied by the nuns' choir, hold the royal sepulchres of the founding monarchs and their immediate successors. The costumes exhibited in the Museum of Medieval Fabrics have come from the tombs in this pantheon.
A mandatory waypoint, the city of Burgos has a population of almost 166,000 inhabitants. The province of Burgos is located in the north-east of the Autonomous Community of Castile and León. On the north, it borders Cantabria and the Basque provinces of Biscay and Álava; on the east, with the Community of La Rioja and the province of Soria; on the south, with the province of Segovia and on the west, with the provinces of Palencia and Valladolid.
Address:
C/ Compases de Huelga s/n
Telephone no.: 947 201 630
Visiting hours
From April to September and from Tuesday to Saturday: 10:30 to 13:15 and 16:00 to 17:45. Sundays and bank holidays from 10:30 to 14:15. Closed in afternoons and evenings.
From October to March and from Tuesday to Friday, from 11:00 to 13:00. Closed on Mondays all year round.
An abundance of archaeological remains demonstrate that there were different settlements for over 100,000 years in the place where the city of Burgos is now located.
In the year 884, Diego Porcelos, the second Count of Castile, repopulated the area to constitute a defensive bulwark against the warring incursions of the Islamic armies.
Over time, Burgos became the undisputed capital of a territory that was expanding and which functioned as a warfront, Castile.
A key point on the Way of St. James, Burgos went on to become an Episcopalian see in the year 1075, which promoted the arrival or new cultural airs and major demographic and economic development.
The city's maximum splendour, in terms of economics and demography, came at the end of the 15th century, which led to its limits being extended beyond the river Arlanzón.
Following an era of decline, from the middle of the 18th century a new phase was entered, with the development of new urban planning projects that propitiated a change in the city's medieval physiognomy, creating an urban profile that is still conserved today.
Spanish National Heritage
http://www.patrimonionacional.es
Burgos City Council
www.aytoburgos.es
Burgos Provincial Council
http://www.diputaciondeburgos.es/
