Palencia, with about 77,000 inhabitants, is a provincial capital of Castile and León, on the banks of the Carrión river in the great Tierra de Campos plain. Seldom visited by foreign tourists, it is a pleasant, calm city with an important heritage and a province extraordinarily rich in Romanesque art.
History
It was a town of the Vaccaei and then Roman Pallantia. In 1208 what is considered Spain's first university was founded here, Alfonso VIII's Studium Generale, which was short-lived, its role later passing to Salamanca. In the Middle Ages it was an important town of the Kingdom of Castile.
What to see
- The Gothic cathedral of San Antolín, one of Spain's largest, called the Bella Desconocida, the "unknown beauty", because its plain exterior hides an interior rich in altarpieces, chapels and a magnificent choir. Beneath the altar is the crypt of San Antolín, with 7th-century Visigothic and Romanesque remains.
- The Calle Mayor, a long arcaded street with shops and cafés.
- The Cristo del Otero, a statue over 20 metres high by sculptor Victorio Macho, from 1931, on a hill on the outskirts, among the world's largest statues of Christ.
- The church of San Miguel, with its tall Gothic tower, where tradition says El Cid was married.
- The church of San Pablo and the convent of Santa Clara.
- The Canal de Castilla, an 18th-century navigable canal, with a towpath for walking.
The Romanesque province
The province of Palencia has one of Europe's greatest concentrations of Romanesque buildings, many along the Way of St James:
- the church of San Martín in Frómista, a model of pure Romanesque;
- Carrión de los Condes and Villalcázar de Sirga;
- the Montaña Palentina, with dozens of Romanesque village churches, Aguilar de Campoo and the ROM exhibition centre;
- the Roman villa of La Olmeda, with superb mosaics, at Pedrosa de la Vega.
Food and festivals
Lechazo asado, roast milk-fed lamb, menestra, Tierra de Campos lentils, Aguilar de Campoo biscuits and queso castellano. The San Antolín festivals, in early September, are the most important.
Getting there
Palencia is linked to Madrid by high-speed train in about an hour and a half and is about 50 km from Valladolid, with its airport.