ESPAGNE - BURGOS - Arco Santa Maria (173)
BURGOS
In 884, as part of the policy of repopulating the territories reconquered by the Christians, Alfonso III, king of Leon, trying to slow down the advance of the Muslims, ordered Count Diego Rodríguez to create a city on the banks of the Arlanzón. The origin of Burgos is, therefore, military. It benefits from a privileged geographical location due to the fact that it is halfway between Madrid and the French border, as well as very close cities such as Bilbao, Santander, Logroño or Valladolid, among others.
After being a simple stage of the Camino de Santiago, Burgos comes to dominate the Segovia-Bilbao commercial axis, that is to say the route for exporting wool, the main resource of Castile. At the end of the 15th century, the merchants of Burgos, after having established a de facto monopoly on the trade of this raw material, reigned over Old Castile and maintained agents in the main commercial centers of Western Europe: Nantes and Rouen, Antwerp and Bruges. They settled in Seville to take advantage of the relations established with America, and the quest for fortune took them to the Canaries, Cape Verde and Guinea. From the 16th century, however, the bourgeoisie of Burgos, until then the most prosperous in Spain, experienced decline.
ARCO SANTA MARIA
This gateway to the city saw its facade modified in the 16th century into a triumphal arch for Emperor Charles V. It presents the great figures of Burgos: at the bottom, Diego Rodríguez Porcelos is framed by the two semi-legendary judges who are said to have directed the affairs of Castile in the 10th century. And at the top, Count Fernán González and the Cid (right) keep Charles V company.
ESPAGNE - BURGOS - Arco Santa Maria (173)
BURGOS
In 884, as part of the policy of repopulating the territories reconquered by the Christians, Alfonso III, king of Leon, trying to slow down the advance of the Muslims, ordered Count Diego Rodríguez to create a city on the banks of the Arlanzón. The origin of Burgos is, therefore, military. It benefits from a privileged geographical location due to the fact that it is halfway between Madrid and the French border, as well as very close cities such as Bilbao, Santander, Logroño or Valladolid, among others.
After being a simple stage of the Camino de Santiago, Burgos comes to dominate the Segovia-Bilbao commercial axis, that is to say the route for exporting wool, the main resource of Castile. At the end of the 15th century, the merchants of Burgos, after having established a de facto monopoly on the trade of this raw material, reigned over Old Castile and maintained agents in the main commercial centers of Western Europe: Nantes and Rouen, Antwerp and Bruges. They settled in Seville to take advantage of the relations established with America, and the quest for fortune took them to the Canaries, Cape Verde and Guinea. From the 16th century, however, the bourgeoisie of Burgos, until then the most prosperous in Spain, experienced decline.
ARCO SANTA MARIA
This gateway to the city saw its facade modified in the 16th century into a triumphal arch for Emperor Charles V. It presents the great figures of Burgos: at the bottom, Diego Rodríguez Porcelos is framed by the two semi-legendary judges who are said to have directed the affairs of Castile in the 10th century. And at the top, Count Fernán González and the Cid (right) keep Charles V company.