| Pamplona (Iruña in Basque), is the old capital of Navarre. It has some two hundred thousand inhabitants and is a university and business centre of a certain importance. Its origins, more than two thousand years old (a small Roman city built on a Bascon village, presumably by the Roman general Pompei, from where its name would come). The old quarter is almost entirely walled and gathers the most important monuments in the city. In the Middle Ages, the city was divided into three independent towns, constantly at war: the town of Navarrería, Burgo de San Cernin and the village of Nicolás. Between the three cities, walls and ditches. The modern Pamplona was then born (1423) with the union of the three towns under king Carlos III de Navarra, "el Noble", and in current city hall was built in a place common to all three, as a symbol of the union.
The city has important museums, two universities, a dozen districts, several industrial estates, valuable old medieval churches (particularly the cathedral, with an important Gothic cloister and the valuable tomb of king Carlos III de Navarra; San Nicolás; San Saturnino and San Cernin; medieval civil buildings such as the Cámara de Comptos, or the Tribunal de Cuentas de Navarra; several bridges over the river Arga), walls and Citadel, fine parks (Taconera, la Ciudadela and other more modern ones); it has a noteworthy gastronomy, sports and commercial life.
What you must not miss:
• San Fermín festival (beginning 6th July)
• The Cathedral
• The Cámara de Comptos
• La Taconera, la Ciudadela and Yamaguchi parks
• The Planetarium
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