Simancas is a town and municipality

Municipality

A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 of central Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, located in the province of Valladolid, part of the autonomous community of Castile and León

Castile and León

Castile and León is an autonomous community in north-western Spain. It was so constituted in 1983 and it comprises the historical regions of León and Old Castile...

. It is situated approximately 10 km southwest of the provincial capital Valladolid

Valladolid

Valladolid is a historic city and municipality in north-central Spain, situated at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers, and located within three wine-making regions: Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Cigales...

, on the road to Zamora and the right bank of the river Pisuerga.

Simancas originated as the Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 Septimanca.

Main sights

Sights include a citadel dating from the Moorish occupation in the 9th century, a bridge of seventeen arches, and many remains of old walls. In 934 it was the scene of a battle between

Battle of Simancas

The Battle of Simancas was a military battle that started on July 19, 939, in the Iberian Peninsula between the troops of the Christian king Ramiro II of León and Muslim caliph Abd al-Rahman III near the walls of the city of Simancas...

 the Christian troops under Ramiro II of León

Ramiro II of León

Ramiro II , son of Ordoño II, was King of León from 931 until his death. Initially titular king only of a lesser part of Asturias, he gained the crown of León after his brother Alfonso IV abdicated in 931...

 and the Moors of Abd-al-Rahman III.

The citadel is now the Archivo General del Reino, to which the national archives of Spain were removed by order of Philip II

Philip II of Spain

Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....

 in 1563. Their transference thither was first suggested to Charles V

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...

 by Cardinal Ximenes de Cisneros. The extensive alterations were made by three 16th century architects, Juan de Herrera

Juan de Herrera

Juan de Herrera was a Spanish architect, mathematician and geometrician.One of the most outstanding Spanish architects in the 16th century, Herrera represents the peak of the Renaissance in Spain. His sober style was fully developed in buildings like the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial...

, Alonso Berruguete

Alonso Berruguete

Alonso González de Berruguete was a Spanish painter, sculptor and architect. He is considered to be the most important sculptor of the Spanish Renaissance, and is known for his emotive sculptures depicting religious ecstasy or torment.Born in the town of Paredes de Nava, Berrugete studied art...

 and Juan Gómez de Mora

Juan Gómez de Mora

Juan Gómez de Mora was a Spanish architect. His father, also Juan Gómez, was court painter to Philip II of Spain and brother to the architect Francisco de Mora....

; the arrangement of the papers was entrusted to Diego de Ayala.

They occupy forty-six rooms, and are arranged in upwards of 80,000 bundles (33,000,000 documents), including important private as well as state papers. The archives of the Indies

Archivo General de Indias

The Archivo General de Indias , housed in Seville, Spain, in the ancient merchants' exchange, the Casa Lonja de Mercaderes, is the document repository of extremely valuable archival documents illustrating the history of the Spanish Empire in the Americas and the Philippines...

 were transferred in 1784 to the Lonja of Seville

Seville

Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...

. Permission to consult the documents at Simancas can be readily obtained.

External links

• http://www.cultura.mecd.es/archivos/visitas/simancas/simancas.html