Logbook · 5 places

What to see and do in Palenzuela

What to see and do in Palenzuela (El Cerrato, Palencia): 5 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 2 Monuments · 2 Activities

How far each place is from the centre of Palenzuela

Church of San Juan Bautista de Palenzuela 50 m

Towns near Palenzuela

Spain › Castile and León › Palencia › El Cerrato › Palenzuela

What to see and do in Palenzuela

Palenzuela
Village
Palenzuela is a town in the district of El Cerrato, in the province of Palencia, beside the Arlanza river, with 212 inhabitants (INE 2025) and declared a conjunto histórico-artístico (a category of protected heritage site in Spain) in 1969. Its name, Pallantia Comitis or Palencia del Conde, distinguished it from ancient times from the neighbouring provincial capital of Palencia, since it belonged to the County of Castile rather than the kingdom of León. Celtiberian remains have been found here, along with an extensive necropolis whose materials supply the diocesan museum of Palencia. In the Middle Ages, granted fueros by Count Sancho, known as "of the Fueros", it was the seat of the Merindad de Cerrato and came to be the property of the admirals of Castile. It preserves walls with the Arco de la Paz and the ruins of a triangular 11th-century castle, and in October it holds its Fiesta de la Cebolla.
Medieval wall and Arch of Peace
Monument
Of the medieval wall that surrounded the town, the Arco de la Paz survives, one of its gates, beside the bridge over the Arlanza; the eleventh-century castle formed a triangle with towers at each of its corners.
Church of San Juan Bautista de Palenzuela
Monument
A magnificent Gothic church with numerous chapels and tombs, dominating a village of barely two hundred residents where the old church of Santa Eulalia, already in ruins, also stands. Built between the 14th and 17th centuries to replace an earlier Romanesque church, its tower collapsed in the mid-16th century, bringing down part of the naves with it, which required a rebuilding that gave it its current late Gothic appearance with Renaissance influences. Of hall-church plan, with three naves of equal height covered by star-ribbed vaults, it holds one of the finest collections of silverware in the province of Palencia and several notable altarpieces: one from the 17th century in the main chapel, and others from the 16th century, of Flemish influence, dedicated to Santa Catalina and Santa Eulalia.
Procession of the Bonfires
Activity
In mid-September the town honours the Virgen de Allende el Río with a night procession lit by bonfires, which goes down to the Romanesque hermitage on the other side of the Arlanza.
Fair of la Cebolla de Palenzuela
Activity
Every October, Palenzuela holds the Onion Fair, dedicated to the onion of Palenzuela, grown in the low water-meadows of the Arlanza and Arlanzón rivers, from Pampliega and Villodrigo to Quintana del Puente and Torquemada. Of the Horcal variety, it is characterised by its globe-shaped bulb, light brown skin and white flesh with a sweet, juicy and lingering flavour, very well suited to making morcilla de Burgos. In 2004 an association of producers, traders and town councils from the area was set up to promote and protect the product, which in the Cerrato accompanies the stews of the winter matanza and garlic soups.