Valladolid
a city of Spain, in Old Castile, capital of the province of the same name (area, 2,922 square miles; pop. about 285,000); on the left bank of the Pisuerga, and on the Irun-Madrid railway, 102 miles N. W. of Madrid. It is a fortress of the first rank and the seat of an archbishop; has a cathedral founded in 1585 by Philip II.; many monasteries; celebrated university founded in 1346, an institute, an Academy of Fine Arts, a museum containing many beautiful pictures and sculptures, a library, various seminaries and industrial schools, a theater, hospitals, poorhouse, etc. Of its "plazas" the most beautiful are the quadrangular Plaza Mayor, the octagonal El Ochavo, and above all the triangular Campo Grande, where bull fights, autos-da-fé, and other public spectacles used to be held, and where Napoleon is said to have reviewed not fewer than 35,000 men. The manufactures of Valladolid, which have much revived, are chiefly of cloth, iron, and leather. The old Roman town of Pintia is said to have been rebuilt in 625 by the Goths, but the name Valladolid was first applied to it after its recovery from the Moors about 1072. From this time till Charles V. transferred the court to Madrid, Valladolid was a favorite residence of the kings of Leon. It was the birthplace of Philip II. Pop. about 70,000.