Valladolid (city, Spain)

Capital of Valladolid province, in Castilla-León, Spain; population (2001 est) 318,300. A communications and manufacturing centre, Valladolid is also an important grain market. Industries include food processing, textiles, engineering, and vehicle manufacture. It has a university (founded in 1346) and a 16th-century cathedral.

Valladolid was conquered by the Christians from the Moors in the 10th century and rose to prominence in the 12th and 13th centuries. It was the capital of Castile and León in the 14th–15th centuries, and then of Spain until 1560. The Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella were married here in 1469. It declined greatly after 1561, when Philip II made Madrid the Spanish capital. The explorer Christopher Columbus died in Valladolid; the homes of Columbus and of the writer Miguel de Cervantes are preserved here. Other landmarks include the Colegio de Santa Cruz, now housing a museum; the former royal palace; and the churches of San Pablo and Santa Maria Antigua (12th–13th centuries).