Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of the Arlanzón river tributaries, at the edge of the central plateau.

[4] The 11th century chieftain Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (El Cid) had connections with the city: born near Burgos, he was raised and educated there.

King Alfonso III the Great of León reconquered it about the middle of the 9th century, and built several castles for the defence of Christendom, which was then extended through the reconquest of lost territory.

[16] The merchant oligarchy succeeded the cathedral chapter as the major purchasers of land after 1250; they carried on their mercantile business in common with municipal or royal functions and sent their sons to England and Flanders to gain experience in overseas trade.

[17] By the reign of Alfonso X, the exemption of the non-noble knights and religious corporations, combined with exorbitant gifts and grants to monasteries and private individuals, placed great stress on the economic well-being of the realm.

In 1285, Sancho IV added a new body to the consejo which came to dominate it: the jurado in charge of collecting taxes and overseeing public works; the king reserved the right to select its members.

In the 14th century, official royal intrusion in city affairs was perceived as a palliative against outbreaks of violence by the large excluded class of smaller merchants and artisans, on whom the tax burden fell.

[citation needed] On 9 June 1345, sweeping aside the city government, Alfonso XI established direct royal rule of Burgos through the Regimiento of sixteen appointed men.

[citation needed] In 1574, Pope Gregory XIII made the bishopric a Metropolitan archbishopric, at the request of king Felipe II.

In the Peninsular War against Napoleonic France, the siege of Burgos (between 19 September to 21 October) was a scene of a withdrawal for Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.

It features chilly and windy winters, due to altitude and an inland location, which always include snow and temperatures below freezing.

The Convento de la Merced, occupied by the Jesuits, and the Hospital del Rey are also of historic and architectural interest.

[11] Among the other interesting architectural structures, in the walls of the city are the gateway of Santa María, erected for the first entrance of the Emperor Charles V, and the arch of Fernán González.

The Cathedral is the resting place for El Cid (the famous knight from Medieval Spain's history) and his wife Dona Jimena.

The middle section, which serves as an entrance, has three alabaster pilasters, the intercolumnar spaces bearing panel-pictures representing the martyrdom of saints.

[11] The octagonal chapel of the Condestable, in florid, thus highly sculpted, Gothic design, has a roof finished with balustraded turrets, needle-pointed pinnacles and statues.

The remarkable cloisters have been described as "unrivalled for beauty both of detail and design, and perhaps unsurpassed by anything in its age and style in any part of Europe" (1911 Encyclopædia Britannica).

[11] King Juan II's daughters by his first wife, heiresses Princesses Catherine and Eleanor of Asturias, are also buried in the monastery.

It has important objects and documents from all the ages, starting from Atapuerca, passing to the Romans and Iberians, and finishing in the contemporary period.

[25] It employs the bigger percentage in the city and is represented by the public sector (production, delivery and allocation of goods and services), due to the capital status.

It was eventually dispersed throughout the Spanish empire following the conquest and colonization of the Americas, and Spain after the union of the Catholic Monarchs's kingdoms being co-spoken with other languages.

Morcilla de Burgos, a pig's-blood sausage (black pudding), is a staple country food known across the Iberian peninsula.

Spiced with onions and herbs its most noticeable content is rice (often mistaken for fat) which makes it one of the lightest and healthiest products of its kind.

[29] A project to implement a tram for the city has been planned, which would run the length of the Boulevard, officially called the Avenida de Valencia.

It would consist of a line of about 12 km (7 mi) long and will originate from the Burgos-Rosa de Lima railway station and end at the University of Burgos.

It connects the city with nearly every region of Spain, as well as with a wide number of European (Amsterdam, Basel, Bern, Bratislava, Brussels, Cologne, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Geneva, Gdańsk, Kyiv, Lisbon, Ljubljana, Lviv, Łódź, London, Lyon, Marseille, Moscow, Munich, Nice, Paris, Porto, Prague, Rotterdam, Sofia, The Hague, Warsaw, Zürich) and even North African (Casablanca, Marrakech, Rabat) cities.

[33] The location called Sad Hill Cemetery (specifically in Santo Domingo de Silos), was where the last sequence of the film was shot.

The first football team in the city, Burgos CF, was founded in 1936, reaching the top division for six seasons in the late 1970s, before disappearing due to serious economic debts in 1983.

A new incarnation of Burgos CF was immediately refounded, but didn't start to compete until the 1994 season, in the sixth-tier Primera Provincial division.

The team gradually transformed into professionalism, and since 2021 it plays in the second division of the Spanish football pyramid, hosting games at the El Plantío stadium.