Pamplona or Iruña is the historical capital city of Navarre, in Spain,and of the former Kingdom of Navarre.
Pamplona is located in the middle of Navarre in a rounded valley, known as the Basin of Pamplona, that links the mountainous North with the Ebro valley. It is 92 km (57 mi) from the city of San Sebastián, 117 km (73 mi) from Bilbao, 735 km (457 mi) from Paris and 407 km (253 mi) from Madrid.
The city is famous worldwide for the running of the bulls during the San Fermín festival, which is held annually from July 6 to 14. This festival was brought to literary renown with the 1926 publication of Ernest Hemingway's novel The Sun Also Rises.
The climate and landscape of the basin is a transition between those two main Navarrese geographical regions. Its central position at crossroads has served as a commercial link between those very different natural parts of Navarre.The historical centre of Pamplona is on the left bank of the Arga, a tributary of the Ebro. The city has developed on both sides of the river. Like many other European cities, it is very easy to distinguish what is so called the "old city" and the new neighborhoods. The oldest part of the old city is Navarrería, which corresponds with the Roman city. During the 12th century, the boroughs of Saint Sernin (San Saturnino or San Cernin) and Saint Nicholas (San Nicolás) were established. Charles III decreed the unification of the three places under a single municipality in 1423.
Pamplona proves to us that a medieval town can be adapted to the needings of our century without damaging its integrity.
The 16th century town-walls, which enclose wide areas of the urbanisation still today, are impressing. They are, in a way, the backbone of the town and serve to the visitor as orientation for his walks through Pamplona. Alongside them we find nice parks, wide avenues and the oldest monuments.
Pamplona's gothic cathedral, built between 1397 and 1530, with an 18th century neoclassical façade by Ventura Rodriguez is listed among the most important religious buildings of Spain. Most valuable is its claustrum. In the central nave there is the Kings' Mausoleum of alabaster, built in 1415.
Remarkable are as well its 15th century altar, the 14th century Barbanza chapel, the Fuente de la Cruz with the tombs of the Counts of Gades, the"Adoration by the Kings" and the relics of Holy Sepulchre and Lignum Crucis in its museum.
The Parks along the River
In the beautiful Tejera Park, close to the most monumental part of Pamplona, there are the towers of the town-walls and the square of Plaza de Santa Maria la Real, with the baroque Archieopiscopal Palais.
Following the walls you arrive to Puerta de Zumalacárregui, one of the six old doors of the town, and the Park of Santo Domingo. Close to it there is the town-hall, with a baroque façade, the Seminar of San Juan Bautista, with the Sarrasate Museum and the Town's Archive, where is conserved the famous document Fuero, a medieval privilege of 1129.
***Pamplona: Sightseeing
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