Logbook · 5 places

What to see and do in Aranda de Duero

What to see and do in Aranda de Duero (Ribera del Duero, Burgos): 5 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 1 Monuments · 1 Curiosities · 1 Historical milestones · 1 Food and drink

How far each place is from the centre of Aranda de Duero

The portal of Santa María la Real de Aranda 250 m

Towns near Aranda de Duero

Spain › Castile and León › Burgos › Ribera del Duero › Aranda de Duero

What to see and do in Aranda de Duero

Aranda de Duero
Village
Aranda de Duero, with 33,956 inhabitants, is the capital of the Burgos section of the Ribera del Duero. Beneath its old town extend more than seven kilometres of underground wine cellars dug between the 12th and 18th centuries to age the wines of the denomination of origin, alongside roast lechazo (milk-fed lamb) and morcilla (blood sausage) as local dishes. In 1473 it hosted the Council of Aranda, attended by the future Isabella I of Castile, and in 1503 the oldest surviving town plan in Spain was drawn up here. Among its heritage stand out the church of Santa María la Real, with an Isabelline Gothic portal by Simón de Colonia, that of San Juan, today a sacred art museum, and the Berdugo palace, where Napoleon lodged in 1808. Since 1998 it has held the Sonorama Ribera festival.
The portal of Santa María la Real de Aranda
Monument
The church of Santa María la Real, in Aranda de Duero (Burgos), was built between the 15th and 16th centuries over an earlier Romanesque church of which only the tower remains; work began around 1439 and by 1503 the church was already finished, though still without its Isabelline Gothic portal, carved like a stone tapestry with scenes from the life of Christ unfolding across the wall as an outer altarpiece, which was added later in the 16th century. It has a Latin-cross plan with three naves and Gothic ribbed vaults; the main altarpiece, in polychrome wood, replaced an earlier one destroyed by a fire and was made between 1609 and 1624. Also notable are a wooden pulpit and the Mudéjar staircase leading to the choir, the work of Sebastián de la Torre in 1523.
The seven kilometres of underground wine cellars
Curiosity
Beneath the old town extends a network of cellars excavated between the 12th and 18th centuries that adds up to some seven kilometres of galleries. They served to make and keep the wine at a constant temperature all year round.
The Council of Aranda
Historical milestone
The Council of Aranda was a provincial council convened in 1473 by the Archbishop of Toledo, Alonso Carrillo de Acuña, under Henry IV, and held in the church of San Juan in Aranda de Duero, attended by the still-princess Isabella I. It was organised to combat ignorance and the dissolute life of part of the clergy, and among its canons it forbade ordaining those who did not know Latin and banned clandestine marriages; its preparatory sessions were held at the monastery of San Pedro de Gumiel de Izán. The town was then an important stronghold in the Duero valley and a regular meeting point for the court and the higher clergy. The episode has been recalled in theatrical productions, such as Aranda, 1473, by Carlos Contreras Elvira and Félix Estaire, premiered in 2013.
The roast suckling lamb of the Ribera
Food and drink
The suckling lamb of the churra breed is roasted whole in a wood-fired oven, in an earthenware dish and with only water and salt, until the skin is crisp. Together with black pudding, it is the dish that defines the table of the whole comarca.