Covarrubias is a village and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the province of

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of ...

in the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...

of Castile and León. It has 640 inhabitants, and it is near to Mecerreyes, Cubillo del Campo and Hortigüela. Covarrubias is situated in the valley of the

river Arlanza The Arlanza River rises in the Sierra de la Demanda, near Quintanar de la Sierra in an area known as Fuente Sanza. As it flows through the province of Burgos, Spain, it passes through the municipalities of Castrovido, Salas de los Infantes, ...

, which is extensively wooded with among other species Spanish Juniper. Part of the area belonging to the municipality is included within a

Special Protection Area A Special Protection Area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and certa ...

for bird-life such as vultures. The village itself was declared a '' Conjunto Histórico-Artístico'', a type of conservation area, in 1965. Covarrubias and

Tønsberg Tønsberg , historically Tunsberg, is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, eastern Norway, located around south-southwest of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near its mouth onto the Skagerrak. The administrative c ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

have entered a friendship agreement as the result of a medieval connection with Christina of Norway, Infanta of Castile. A church honouring Saint

Olaf II of Norway Olaf II Haraldsson ( – 29 July 1030), later known as Saint Olaf (and traditionally as St. Olave), was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. Son of Harald Grenske, a petty king in Vestfold, Norway, he was posthumously given the title '' Rex Per ...

, designed by the architect Pablo López Aguado, has been built in the town and dedicated in 2011. It was founded in the 7th century AD by the

Visigoth The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kn ...

ic king

Chindasuinth Chindasuinth (also spelled Chindaswinth, Chindaswind, Chindasuinto, Chindasvindo, or Khindaswinth ( Latin: Chintasvintus, Cindasvintus; 563 – 30 September 653) was Visigothic King of Hispania, from 642 until his death in 653. He succeeded Tul ...

. One of the first areas to be reconquered from the

Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or ...

in the late ninth century, Covarrubias had an influence on Castile and its

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

. The river is used for swimming and canoeing. One feature, Fuente Azul ( Placed in the municipality of Hortigüela), is 6 km away. It has a mild climate, and its cuisine includes

black pudding , type = , course = , place_of_origin = Great Britain and Ireland , region =England, Ireland, Scotland , associated_cuisine = United Kingdom and Ireland , creator = , year = , mintime = , maxtime = , served = Hot, occasionally ...

, grapes ( Arlanza (DO)), and cherries.

Places of interest

* the ''Torreón'' (a tower associated with

Fernán González of Castile Fernán González (died 970) was the first autonomous count of Castile. Fernán González was a colourful character of legendary status in Iberia, and founder of the dynasty that would rule a semi-autonomous Castile, laying the foundations for it ...

), * the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

''Colegiata'' (

collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by ...

) is a designated

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

. The building contains a historic organ and a museum with a painting attributed to

Van Eyck Van Eyck or Van Eijk () is a Dutch toponymic surname. ''Eijck'', ''Eyck'', ''Eyk'' and ''Eijk'' are all archaic spellings of modern Dutch ("oak") and the surname literally translates as "from/of oak". However, in most cases, the family name refers ...

Covarrubias - Torreón de Fernán González

Colegiata de Covarrubias - Tumba de la princes Kristina

Twin towns - sister cities

. Covarrubias is twinned with Tønsberg. The link between these municipalities resides on Princess Christina of Norway, who travelled from Tønsberg to Spain in 1257 and was later buried in Covarrubias.

Notes

External links

Ayuntamiento de CovarrubiasCovarrubias webcam
{{coord, 42.0564, N, 3.51694, W, source:kolossus-ruwiki, display=title Municipalities in the Province of Burgos

Places of interest

Twin towns - sister cities

See also

Notes

External links