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:''For the city in Mexico, see Valladolid, Yucatán. For the municipality in the Philippines, see Valladolid, Negros Occidental.''

'Valladolid' is an industrial city and it is a municipality in north-central Spain, upon the Rio Pisuerga and within the Ribera del Duero region. It is the capital of the province of Valladolid and of the autonomous community of Castile and Leon, therefore is part of the historical region of Castile.

Contents

Etymology

History

Main Sites

Population

Routes

SEMINCI

Local cuisine

Easter Week in Valladolid

Sister cities

See also

External links

Geography

Institutions

Museums

Miscellaneous

Etymology

The most probable origin of the term is Latin: VALLIS, "Valley"; and Celtic: TOLITUM, "place of confluence of waters" And it also means "city in a cloud"[1], The name is also linked with the Arabic name for the city بلد الوليد meaning ''The City of Walid''.
It is also popularly called ''Pucela'', a nickname whose origin is not clear, but probably refers to a few knights who accompanied "Juana de Arco".

History

Valladolid was captured from the Moors in the 10th century, being a small village improved by count Pedro Ansúrez in the 11th century; by the 15th century it was the residence of the kings of Castile and remained the capital of the Kingdom of Spain until 1561, when Philip II, born here, moved the capital to Madrid. Christopher Columbus died in Valladolid in 1506 in a house which is now a Museum dedicated to him. It was made the capital of the kingdom again between 1601 and 1606 by Philip III. It was in that period when Cervantes published his first edition of Don Quixote in 1604.
The city nonetheless boasts few architectural manifestations of its former glory. Some monuments include the unfinished cathedral, the church of Santa Maria la Antigua, the Plaza Mayor (the template for that of Madrid and of future main squares in the Castilian-speaking world), the National Sculpture Museum, next to the church of Saint Paul, which includes Spain's greatest collections of polychrome wood sculptures, and the Faculty of Law of the University of Valladolid, whose façade is one of the few surviving works by Narciso Tomei, the same artist who did the transparente in Toledo Cathedral. The Science Museum is next to Pisuerga river. The only surviving house of Miguel de Cervantes is also located in Valladolid. Although unfinished, Cathedral of Valladolid was designed by Juan de Herrera, architect of El Escorial.
Valladolid is an economic motor of the autonomous community, having an important automobile industry (IVECO, FASA-Renault, Michelin). There is an airport at nearby Villanubla, with connections to London-Stansted, Paris, Brussels-Charleroi, Milan, Lisbon, Barcelona and Vigo.

Main Sites

The capital of Castile-León preserves in its old quarter, a heritage of aristocratic houses and religious buildings. Among them, the unfinished Cathedral was commissioned by King