Palencia
Palencia is a town that houses about 81,000 inhabitants and it is located in the southern part of the province of the same name. In 1208, the first university studies of Spain, called “stadium generale” were founded in Palencia, but due to financial problems these studies soon disappeared. Palencia has many parks, like the Parque-Isla Dos Aguas or El Sotillo de los Canónigos, in which one can take wonderful walks. And there is a deer nature reserve in Palencia where one can spot deer from nearby. Furthermore, the province has to offer many other outdoor activities. “El Monte,” for example, offers basketball grounds, tennis courts, swimming pools, bike- and horse riding tracks. At the same time Palencia also has to offer lots of wonderful architecture, like “La bella desconocida,” the Cathedral of the town. The tower and the Gothic doors of this Cathedral are particularly remarkable and there is a wealth of art to be found behind these doors. One can here find the San Antolin’s crypt and an altar of twelve panels painted by Juan de Flandes. There are some nice museums that can be visited in Palencia, like the Cathedral Museum, the Archaeological Museum (Casa del Cordón) and the Museum of Palencia. Moreover, the second largest sculpture of Christ, aside from the one in Rio de Janeiro, is located in Palencia. This famous sculpture is called “El Cristo del Otero,” and was made by Victorio Macho. The bridge over the Carrión river divides Palencia into a old section on the left bank and a newer section on the right. The mountain range of “La Montaña Palentina,” offers beautiful landscapes, glacier lakes and so on. To finish, we want to give you the names of some local specialties: “menestra palentina,” and “ostias de Palencia,” are some of the gastronomic treats of Palencia.
