Vitoria, Spain

**Vitoria-Gasteiz**
	Vitoria-Gasteiz
Flag	Coat of Arms
	Haec est Victoria quae vincit; ("This is Victoria which triumphed")
Location
	; Location of Vitoria-Gasteiz in Spain
	Coordinates : 42°51′N 2°41′W / 42.85°N 2.683°W
Administration
Country	Spain
Autonomous Community	Basque Country
Province	Álava
Comarca	Vitoria-Gasteiz
Mayor	Patxi Lazcoz (PSE-EE-PSOE)
Geography
Land Area	276.81 km²
Altitude	525 m AMSL
Population
Population	236,525 (2009)
- rank in Spain:	19th
Density	854.47 hab./km² (2009)
General information
Native name	Vitoria-Gasteiz (Basque)
Spanish name	Vitoria
Founded	1181
Time zone	CET (GMT +1)
- summer	CEST (GMT +2)
Postal code	01001-01080
Area code	+34 (Spain) + 945 (Álava)
Website	http://www.vitoria-gasteiz.org/

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This article is about the Spanish city. For other uses, see Vitoria (disambiguation).

Vitoria (Spanish: Vitoria; Basque: Gasteiz; known officially as Vitoria-Gasteiz), is the capital city of the province of Álava and of the autonomous community of the Basque Country in northern Spain. It is the second largest Basque city, after Bilbao. The dwellers of the city are called Vitorianos or Gasteiztarras, while traditionally they are dubbed Babazorros (Basque for 'bean eaters').

[edit] History

In the year 581 the Visigoth king Liuvigild founded the city of Victoriacum, trying to emulate the Roman foundations, as a celebration of the victory against the Vascones near what is assumed to be the hill occupied by the primitive village of Gasteiz. This however is not sufficiently proven, and some historians and experts believe that Victoriacum was located not on the site of present-day Vitoria but nearby, probably at the foot of Mount Gorbea where there is a village called Vitoriano.

In the year 1181, Sancho VI the Wise, King of Navarre founded the town of Nueva Victoria as a defensive outpost on top of a hill at the site of the previous settlement of Gasteiz. In 1200, the town was captured by the troops of Alfonso VIII of Castile, who annexed the town to the Kingdom of Castile. The town was progressively enlarged and in 1431 it was granted the title of City by King Juan II of Castile. In 1463, it was one of the five founding villas of the Brotherhood of Álava alongside Sajazarra, Miranda de Ebro, Pancorbo and Salvatierra.

The principal episode in the later history of Vitoria-Gasteiz is the Battle of Vitoria of the Peninsular War on 21 June 1813. The French troops were comprehensively beaten by the Duke of Wellington losing track of Alsasua (Navarra ), Almost all the loot stolen from the Spanish and French control of Spain was ended. There is a monument commemorating this battle in the main square of the city, known as the Monument to Independence - Monumento a la Independencia. Vitória in Brazil was named in honour.

When in late July of that year came the news to Vienna, Johann Nepomuk Mälzel commissioned Ludwig van Beethoven composition of a symphony by reason of this fact. It is the op. 91 Wellingtons Sieg or Die bei Schlachter Vitoria or Siegessymphonie. In 1843, came permission to build the Institute for Media Education, current headquarters of the Basque Parliament and formerly the convent of Santa Clara. In the 1853-1854 academic year began classes bringing to fruition an old dream of the city. The old Institute for Media Education witnessed much of the cultural life of this city. It should be remembered, among other things, the Free University, created in the wake of the revolution of 1868. The University operated from 1869, truncated before starting the course 1873-1874, largely because of the second Carlist War. Suffice it to recall the names of Ricardo Calf Bengoa, Julian Apraiz, Federico Baraibar, and so on. This last, great Hellenistic (1851-1918), was also among the first to Vitoria in the Basque language classes taught there, in the section that would call for extra today.

In full Transitional Spanish, the Church of St. Francis of Assisi was the scene on March 3 of 1976 of serious clashes between police and striking workers. The eviction of the church which was being held in an assembly ended with machine-gun action of the assembly by police, which killed 5 of them and shot more than a hundred.

On May 20, 1980, by decision of the Basque Parliament, which they agreed through their Sedes Act, Vitoria became the capital of the Basque Country.

The old part of the city (el casco viejo), which lies on an elevation, is very well conserved and contains a number of remarkable monuments: Casa del Cordon (a house from the XV century), the gothic cathedral of Sta. Maria (XIV century), the Museum of Archaeology (XVI century) and the Torre de Doña Otxanda (a tower holding the Museum of Natural Sciences). The extension (el ensanche) was built south of the old city centre during the XIX century and contains the Plaza de la Virgen Blanca (a square where the Fiestas de la Blanca start) with the church of San Miguel, Los Arquillos (an arcade), and the Plaza Nueva (or de España, a square that holds every Sunday morning a street market). Further south, the Paseo de Fray Francisco is a wide street sided by mansions, many of which have been recently adapted for public use: the Palace of Ajuria Enea (the residence of the Lehendakari), the Museum of Arts, Museo de la Armería (weapons) and Museo Fournier de Naipes (playing cards).

[edit] Economy and demographics

The economy of Vitoria-Gasteiz is diverse, and many manufacturing companies have operations here, including Mercedes-Benz, Michelin, Gamesa [1]and Heraclio Fournier, the latter being headquartered here. The city has been ranked second in standard of living among all cities in Spain^{[citation needed]}, and first as to green areas and cultural places per capita.

The city is served by Vitoria Airport. Currently the only airline with normal passenger services is Iberia operated by Air Nostrum with flights to Madrid and Barcelona.

Ryanair service to London Stansted and Dublin ceased October 2007.

Executive airline NordJet [2] has services from Vitoria-Gasteiz

[edit] Monuments and places of interest

Church of Saint Michael, Vitoria, Spain

Cathedral of Santa Maria (Old Cathedral) . Fourteenth-century Gothic building with a tower of the XVII. Under the portico are three open doorways decorated with statues and reliefs. In the interior, chapels containing images Gothic, Flemish and Italian Renaissance. In the chapels on the left you can see paintings by Rubens and van Dyck. The cathedral is undergoing restoration and has been studied by experts from around the world for its architectural curiosities, including those deformations which has suffered due to reforms and previous restorations. Cathedral of Mary Immaculate (New Cathedral). Temple cathedral built and consecrated in the twentieth century, High Gothic.

Church of St. Peter the Apostle . Fourteenth-century Gothic church. Emphasizes the Portico Viejo, with a set of reliefs depicting scenes from the lives of St. Peter and the Virgin Mary, which run under the pictures of the Virgin and the apostles. Inside there at the top, there are several tombs in value.

Church of St. Michael the Archangel. Temple Gothic-Renaissance of the XIV to XVI century in whose porch is the image of the Virgen Blanca, patron saint of the city. Altarpiece by Gregorio Fernandez.

Church of San Vicente Martir . Late Gothic church of the XV and XVI. Church of Carmen. Type neoclassical temple built between 1897 and 1900 as part of the Convent of Discalced Carmelite Fathers.

Basilica of San Prudencio . From the Parque de la Florida, a long succession of walks, leading to Armentia, which can be one of the jewels of Romanesque Basque: the Basilica of San Prudencio, (Patron of Alava). Its construction is the twelfth century, rebuilt in the XVIII. The temple houses sculptural samples from different eras and teachers. Sanctuary of Our Lady of Estíbaliz. Located in the town of Argandoña, 8 km from Vitoria, dating from the eleventh century and is a real jewel of Romanesque art. Our Lady of Estíbaliz is the patron saint of Alava

Convento de San Antonio . Nunnery Clares of the seventeenth century.

Convent of Santa Cruz . Nunnery Dominican of the sixteenth century.

Former Hospice . Building of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, originally Colegio de San Prudencio.

Portico Viejo, Church of San Pedro .

Casa del Cordón . Located on the street Cutlery, is a fine example of Gothic civil architecture. It was built in the fifteenth century, and has a tower of the XIII. In this house stayed the Catholic Monarchs and Hadrian VI was named Pope while he was in it. Basque Museum of Contemporary Art, Artium. Its permanent collection is considered one of the best and most important contemporary art in Basque and Spanish. It was inaugurated on April 26, 2002 and is a museum open and dynamic. Pagina official ARTIUM

Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art of Alava . Located in the ambulatory of the New Cathedral, offers samples of religious art heritage of the province, divided into sections of stone carving, wood carving, painting on wood, paint on canvas, jewelry and furniture liturgical.

Museum of Natural Sciences . The museum is located in the Tower of Doña Otxanda, an example of medieval architecture. It is also a center for research and dissemination of Natural Sciences.

Museum of Archeology . Hosted in a house of wood lattice of the sixteenth century, the museum dolmens, Roman sculptures found in Alava and medieval pieces.

Fournier Museum of Playing Cards . Its headquarters palace Bendaña. The manufacture of cards has been one of the most characteristics of Vitoria. In the museum presents more than 6,000 cards, some of them very old.

Museo de Bellas Artes . In a Renaissance mansion, the museum displays carvings of the fourteenth century, Flemish triptychs of the XVI, tables of Spanish masters like Ribera and modern Spanish paintings that can be seen among the works of Picasso and Zuloaga. The museum pays special attention to painting Basque manners.

Arms Museum of Alava . Near the foregoing, it is this museum, which could be weapons of all periods, from prehistoric axes to handguns of the twentieth century. There is a large collection of medieval weaponry and reconstruction of the battle in Vitoria in 1813 during the War of Independence.

Montehermoso Cultural Center . Building, very reformed, the sixteenth century, which historically has had several uses. In 1994 it ceased to be the headquarters of the Diocese of Vitoria, and in 1997 with the annexation of the former water tank, became the Montehermoso Cultural Center, designed as a space for art exhibitions and musical performances.

Plaza de la Virgen Blanca . It is the nerve center of the city. There converge some of the most typical streets of the old town and the Eixample and is surrounded by old houses with verandas glass. At its center stands a monument commemorating the Battle of Vitoria.

Artium Museum .

Plaza de España . It's a great arcaded plaza designed by the architect Antonio de Olaguibel in 1781 and designed to unite the old town with the new Story, then under construction. One of the most important elements of the package is the town hall of neoclassical decoration.

The Arquillos . This road was built with porches between the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Through a series of staggered buildings were spared the gap between the old city and widening. Descends from the Plaza del Machete to the rear of the Piazza di Spagna.

Palace-Ajuria Enea . The palace has been since 1980 the seat of the President of the Basque government (the Lehendakari), and it is also the official residence of the Lehendakari. It was built in 1918 as the main residence of the family of the local entrepeneur Serafin Ajuria, and it is a fine example of the Basque architecture of the period.

[edit] Culture

[edit] Music

Vitoria-Gasteiz hosts two annual international music festivals:

The International Vitoria-Gasteiz Jazz Festival, from the 12th to the 18th of July (the 2009 Edition).
The Azkena Rock Festival, in late August and early September.

[edit] Local festivities

The Fiestas de la Blanca festival is celebrated every year from the 4th to the 9th of August in honour of the patron saint of the city, and features a programme of special events, activities and free open-air concerts.

[edit] Universities

The liberal arts section of the University of the Basque Country is based in the south part of the city. Focusing on history and linguistics, the Alava campus is also home of the Faculty of Farmacy, as well as some other technical, teaching and business related degrees.

Its origins date back from 1847 when the first Escuela Normal de Maestros de Álava was established. A whole other number of colleges and faculties were adopted in 1978 by the emerging University of the Basque Country.

[edit] Urbanism

From an urban point of view, Vitoria is a mid-size city, the line of which is adapted to the traditions of each historical moment. The medieval town is set in almond-shaped around the hill foundation, which by its privileged position as the only elevation in the plain of Alava, became a defensive stronghold coveted by the kingdoms of Navarra and Castilla during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The walled enclosure is prior to the war between Castile and Navarre, and is due to the work undertaken by the Conde de Alava, bastard son of King Ramiro I of Aragon, in the eleventh century, to defend the village. The defensive walls of the old Gasteiz were built between the years 1050 and 1100. Because of that first defensive role, its narrow streets and bleak surrounding the oval originating in compact rows of houses parallel to each other and with respect to the medieval walls (of which only some sections are preserved and gates). Between the years 1854 and 1856 was an event that changed the face of the city. An epidemic of cholera was the excuse for tearing down the gates, which were strong houses, which provided access to the streets run (home of the strong Nanclares), Shoe (home of the strong Soto) and Blacksmith (home of the strong Abendaño) and which served to protect every neighborhood association. At the entrance of the current Plaza de la Virgen Blanca, was the site of Santa Clara, who was joined by the wall at the Convent of San Antonio. In the nineteenth and the recognition that the city was being small, an expansion was planned in neoclassical style, and little by little planning for the city was giving Vitoria its current form. Almonds medieval, as is often called, has many architectural jewels such as Bendaña Palace, headquarters of the Fournier Museum of cards (the years erected in 1525 by Juan Lopez de Arrieta, on the site occupied by the tower before defensive erected by Maeztu). The Palace Escoriaza-Esquivel, the S XV, built by Claudio de Arziniega. The Villa Suso, which dwelt Martin Salinas, Ambassador Carlos V (sixteenth century). And the greatest treasure of Vitoria: the Cathedral of Santa Maria (Old Cathedral).

The history of the Cathedral of Santa Maria (popularly known as Old Cathedral), is itself a synthesis of the history of Vitoria. Built on the cemetery of the primitive village of Vascon Gasteiz (which today can be accessed through the excavations), the church of Santa Maria collapsed with the fire of 1202, and Alfonso VIII of Castile (who had conquered the square just 2 years earlier), ordered to rebuild the city and lift at the site of a former church that was to serve two very different purposes: to save souls and store weapons. Thus was born the Cathedral of Santa Maria, yet church, a temple-like fortress that served as entry to the city. The project was changing with the centuries, so that each change was made without taking into account the above, this was the case in the fifteenth century (when the church became collegiate), and finally in the sixties, when it was decided reversing the works of strengthening of the external walls and widen the windows purely for aesthetic reasons. What we ended up forcing the temple to close for fear it will collapse during the Masses. Today the cathedral again be open, and offers visitors a unique experience: a trip through time in layers. Since the remnants of the original village, following the current Vitoria, to the Gothic redesign of the mid-twentieth century, passing through foundations of more than a millennium old, and plans Romanesque and Gothic, all perfectly discernible by the color of materials used at each stage. A unique opportunity in the world to pass through the shortcut history, in a temple for their peculiar characteristics, and multiple roles throughout his life, has become the main attraction of Vitoria. Ken Follett, author of " The Pillars of the Earth, "he said after his stay in the city that Santa Maria was one of the three most interesting cathedrals of the world^{[citation needed]}.

Since the Middle Ages to the eighteenth century, the population of Vitoria and the layout of its streets remained almost unchanged. And it was not until the late eighteenth century, when growth requires the expansion of the city outside. To solve the problem of the difference in height between the original kernel on the hill, and the plain below, the arches are erected and the Plaza Nueva, which soften the transition to a much needed expansion neoclassical (s. XIX) of wide streets and gardens, whose greatest exponent is in the street detail, the Park of La Florida, and the Plaza de la Virgen Blanca, with its facade pulled viewpoints.

Finally, the new quarters of Vitoria are built in accordance with a development plan that favors parks, recreation areas and the quality of life. Reconciling keeping the identity of the city with the need to accommodate the growing population. Drawing on the district of San Martin, first planned new neighborhood in this way, the city has increased its outreach to a fast growth in recent years concentrated in the neighborhoods of Lakua, Salburua and Zabalgana. The city of Vitoria has received several international awards for its urban development. Special mention is called green ring, a network of parks and green spaces around the city, destined to be the lung of the future Vitoria, and link the city with the countryside. This ring is formed by the time the parks Salburua, Zabalgana, Armentia, Rio Alegria, Gamarra, Abetxuko, and Atxa-Landaberde, although still lacking in areas integrated into this ring.

[edit] Transport links

By road: Vitoria is connected both with the rest of the Basque capital with Madrid, because it is step by the city of NI. There are two motorways in their municipality and a future motorway service: The NI Madrid-Irun, The A-620 Vitoria-Altube and its connection with the A-68 Logroño-Bilbao, and as of the end of 2009, the new AP -1 Between Vitoria and Éibar attempt to alleviate the problems caused by congested traffic on the NI.

By rail: The Madrid-Irun in Vitoria is one of their most important stops. Half a dozen trains each day linking the city with the Spanish capital, highlighting the service Alvi (At 10.09 in the morning), which, via Valladolid, uses the infrastructure of the AVE to arrive in 3 hours 43 minutes to Madrid. There are also great connections with all Castile and Leon, Galicia, Catalonia, Alicante, Asturias, Lisbon and Paris. Among the deficits fit to highlight the lack of rail services connecting with Andalusia (none) and the lack of rail link with Bilbao. In 2013 is expected to inaugurate a high-speed line to communicate with Vitoria Madrid, Bilbao and San Sebastian among other cities.

By Air: The airport in Vitoria, was built to be the major airport in northern Spain^{[citation needed]} and replacing the airport in Bilbao, but failed to consolidate itself as such. The low number of passenger flights contrasts with the fact that it has established itself as a cargo airport, being the fourth largest airport with freight transport in Spain.

[edit] Sports

Club	Sport	League	Venue	Logo
Deportivo Alavés	Football	Segunda División B	Estadio Mendizorrotza
Baskonia	Basketball	ACB	Fernando Buesa Arena