For my first adventure in Spain, I visited a city called Burgos. It may not be the Paris or Milano trip that I’d been dreaming about when I accepted a teaching position in Logrono, but the capital city of the Castille y Leon region is well worth a visit!
Just a few steps from the bus station, I was very glad to be in Burgos.
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Burgos is a short two-hour bus ride from Logrono, and we arrived just in time to see the sun going down over the Rio Arlanzon. Statues tower along the main streets and on the horizon, you can see the spiked spires of the 15th century Catedral de Burgos. Even the post office (AKA correo) [pictured on the right] is beautiful!
“SO WE SAUNTER TOWARD THE HOLY LAND”
For better AND worse, the hostel we booked was 45 minutes out of the city center – a detail I only became aware of minutes before we left Logrono, so we got to see a lot of the city.
Backstory: Chris handled the booking for this excursion while we I was finishing a presentation for my first teaching lessons in an internet cafe last week. He rattled off some things about monasteries and cathedrals and bus fares and bookings. I said I was in. Without looking into any of the specifics, I agreed to the trip. He seemed excited about it, and I trust him!
Turns out, it was a detail he also failed to check until the last minute. So, here I am, imagining we are going to be walking down some long, dusty road from the bus station with our backpacking packs on toward this hostel in the middle of the country side.
Fortunately for us, the walk was not along an abandoned agricultural road or through a dilapidated industrial part of the city, long forgotten by everyone but the vagabonds and drunks.
It WAS 40-ish minutes from the central bus station, but through busy streets and parks along the way. Hell – there was even a Burger King and McDonalds on the route – two sights I haven’t seen since landing in Espana.
It turns out, the hostel IS awesome. (Nice work, Chris!) For just 19 Euro each, we got a private room with our own bathroom and TV, towels, clothes hangers – the whole nine yards. It’s pretty much a hotel for a hostel price.
The next morning, we got up and out relatively early to make the trek back downtown to check out the sights. But before we could get into the thick of it, we were halted by a brigade of Medieval horseback riders. It turns out the Burgos Renaissance festival (of sorts), called the Fin de Semana Cidiano, is the same weekend.
Shout out to the girl who was dressed in full Medieval garb, smoking a cigarette on top of the horse. Never seen that before!
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Here’s an important history lesson: Burgos was settled in the late 800s and became an important Spanish Kingdom in the 12th century*, so it was like totally booming during Renaissance times. In fact, I recently learned that Burgos is credited as the birthplace of Spanish in its purest form** and it’s where we’ve uncovered some of the earliest remnants of humanoid primates*** in Europe.
*Wikipedia info
**Facts from Chris
***I made this word up
After the brigade of horses past us, we continued the route to downtown. Here’s what we found:
1. The Arco de Santa Maria
Because Burgos was established as an early Spanish kingdom during the Renaissance era, the heart of the city is surrounded by a giant wall and the Rio Arlanzon (AKA a moat!).
At the time it was built, the Arco de Santa Maria was the only way to enter. These days, you can get around the wall, but it still serves as a beautiful entry point to the city’s old town.
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2. The Catedral de Burgos
Just inside the Arco de Santa Maria, you get the full effect of the Catedral de Burgos. A Gothic-style church whose construction began in the 1200s, the cathedral was built to reflect the importance of the Castille and Leon kingdom as well as establishing the city as place of religious significance.
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Construction spanned hundreds of years (duh) and involved numerous famous builders and architects who wove Renaissance and Baroque features into the design.
We took an unguided tour of the cathedral that cost 7 Euro each. It’s 4.50 for students and 3.50 for pilgrims, I believe. With admission, we received walkie-talkie things that provided information about the building, including its:
- Most significant pieces of artwork (a Da Vinci of the Virgin Mary was my favorite)
- Many chapels that respectively boast intricate gilded carvings, relief work, installations
- Artifacts and historic documents
- Tombs bearing religious figures dating back to the building’s origins
- Architectural features
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3. Castille Park (Parque de Castillo)
Just when you think you’ve soaked up enough Medieval majesty, you can climb the steps behind the cathedral to the Parque de Castillo. Now a park with a gorgeous vantage point, this was once the site of a castle in Burgos.
It was closed when we visited, so I can’t vouch for what’s inside the gates, but I can attest that it’s worth the climb up the hill to get the view. We didn’t know it was there when we were walking around the city, so it took us about 20 minutes to wind our way up, but there is a more direct route behind the cathedral that should take less time!
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From the top, you can see the entire city of Burgos sprawling out across the valley, including the mountains and monasteries in the foreground.
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4. Cartuja de Miraflores
The next place that I would recommend visiting is the Cartujes de Miraflores, or the Miraflores Charterhouse. It’s a working monastery that was founded in the 1400s, and now offers tours to share its rich history, beautiful artwork and artifacts, as well as its peaceful place of worship.
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Because Miraflores is outside of the city, you have to make special travel arrangements to get out there. We walked from our hostel, which took about 40 minutes along the roadside and a trail. Besides some drizzling rain, it wasn’t a bad hike. And there was something special about arriving at a secluded monastery on foot. I recommend making the trek!
And if walking long distances isn’t your thing, you can easily drive. Most visitors who were there on the same day arrived by car or in tour vans.
The Miraflores Charterhouse doesn’t charge an entrance fee, but they also don’t offer guided tours. We paid 2 Euro at the entrance for an informational pamphlet that explained the religious and historical significance of the main points of interest in the building.
A brief history:
- The building was originally a King’s hunting lodge in the early 1400s
- It was later given to the Carthusian order to establish a place of worship in the region
- At one point, it was raided by Napoleon’s soldiers, who set it on fire
- It contains the tombs of King John II of Castile and Isabella of Portugal (who died in the 1400s)
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Credit: Cartujes.org
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To me, the building emits two distinct sensations: one of tranquil contemplation and one of ostentatious worship. They exist in harmony under a single roof and you can take from it what you will. For some, it’s a religious experience, for others a history lesson.
At the end of my visit, I was moved by the sense of singular purpose. Whether it’s Catholicism or Buddhism, there are people who dedicate their entire lives to simplicity and study so they can stretch their minds to better understand a subject humans have been contemplating for centuries.
Although the monastery doesn’t charge for visits, there is also a modest gifts shop were you can purchase goods produced by the monks. I bought a small carving of a hooded monk in prayer to remind me of the visit and thank them for the sense of peace I took from it.
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“De tu visita a nuestro monasterio deseamos, ante todo, que la paz de este santo lugar te acompañe siembres, como lo harán nuestra oración y afecto fraterno.” – los monjes cartujos de Miraflores
5. Monestario de las Huelgas
The Monestario de las Huelgas is the fifth stop I would recommend if you visit Burgos. It’s perhaps the more famous of the two monasteries for a few reasons:
- It’s older. it was established in the 1100s – and if I understand correctly, the building itself is even older and was serving some other unrelated purpose prior.
- It’s closer to the city center – it’s just a 15-minute walk from the cathedral.
- It has ties to the Camino de Santiago – There is a chapel dedicated to Santiago in the monastery.
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This monastery DOES charge an admission fee of 6 Euro, and is clearly more of a tourist destination. Admission covers a guided tour in Spanish, so I did not understand a lot of the more sophisticated details she was sharing about the immense history of the building, the artifacts it contained and the purpose it served to the religious community.
- Side note: You can’t take pictures inside of this monastery. You are allowed to take photos outside and in the courtyard.
However, what came across loud and clear is that this monastery contained mummies of two members of early Spanish royalty, King Alfonso VIII and his wife Leonor de Planagenet, who both died in 1214 and are entombed there.
This Monastery contained a number of beautiful chapels of worship, complete with gravity-defying shrines and masterful works of art. Also pillaged by Napoleon’s troops, the Monestario de las Huelgas shows the wear of a 1,000 year old building that has been reinvented numerous times and whose original state is still being discovered. There are carvings etched in the ceilings underneath layers of plaster that are now being peeled back. Around the original pillars are glass plates so you can see how the building was first constructed.
One particular point of interest was the collection of personal effects the monastery had on display. Upon cracking open a 13 or 14th century tomb, the preservationists discovered textiles and weapons that were buried alongside people in the 1300s, including but not limited to:
- Tiny pointed shoes
- Floor-length dresses
- Riding spurs
- Fancy caps
- Original (pre-printing press) books
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So, whether you like learning about history, connecting with the origins of religion or seeing first-hand art and design work from some of the world’s masters, Burgos is great place to visit that’s off the beaten path.