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The University of Santa Catalina

El Burgo de Osma, Tierras del Burgo, Soria

1 Villages · 2 Monuments · 1 Activities · 1 Curiosities · 1 Historical milestones · 1 Food and drink

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The University of Santa Catalina

Monument · El Burgo de Osma, Tierras del Burgo, Soria

The University of Santa Catalina

Outside the walls of El Burgo de Osma, the Pontifical and Royal University of Santa Catalina was founded in 1550, in the mid-16th century, by the Portuguese bishop Pedro Álvarez de Acosta, who drove the works forward between 1541 and 1549; Philip II took it under his protection in 1562. It taught Arts, Canon Law, Medicine and Theology, enjoyed its period of greatest splendour until 1751, and closed for good in 1841, after successive closures due to the Peninsular War and political conflicts; today the building is a hotel. The Plateresque façade displays two columns with grotesques, a niche with Santa Catalina of Alexandria flanked by the coats of arms of Bishop Acosta and, at the top, the imperial coat of arms of Philip II. Inside, a two-storey Renaissance cloister with double arcading is preserved, reached by a monumental staircase.

Photo: Raimundo Pastor (CC BY-SA 4.0)

What to see and do in El Burgo de Osma