PALENCIA  , an episcopal

city, and the capital of the Spanish province of Palencia; on the left bank of the river Carrion, on the Canal de Castilla, at the junction of railways from Leon and Santander, and 7 M . N. by W. of Venta de Banos on the Madrid-Irun line . Pop . (Igloo), 15,940 . Palencia is built in the midst of the level plains called the Tierra de Campos, 2690 ft. above sea-level . Three bridges across the Carrion afford access to the modern suburbs on the right bank . The older and by far the more important part of the city is protected on the west by the river; on the other sides the old machicolated walls, 36 ft. high by 9 ft. in thickness, are in fairly good preservation, and beautified by alamedas or promenades, which were laid out in 1778 . The cathedral was begun in 1321, finished in 1504, and dedicated to St Antolin; it is a large building in the later and florid Gothic style of Spain . The site was previously occupied by a church erected by Sancho III. of Navarre and Castile (1026—1035) over the cave of St Antolin, which is still shown . The cathedral contains some valuable paintings, old Flemish tapestry, and beautiful carved woodwork and stonework . The church of San Miguel is a good and fairly well-preserved example of 13th-century work; that of San Francisco, of the same date, is inferior and has suffered more from modernization . The hospital of San Lazaro is said to date in part from the time of the Cid (q.v.), who here married Ximena in 1074 .

Much has been done for

education . Palencia has also hospitals, a foundling refuge, barracks and a bull-ring . Local industries include iron-founding, and the making of rugs, alcohol, leather, soap, porcelain, linen, cotton, wool, machinery and matches . Palencia, the Pallantia of Strabo and Ptolemy, was the chief town of the Vaccaei . Its history during the Gothic and Moorish periods is obscure; but it was a Castilian town of some importance in the 12th and 13th centuries . The university founded here in 1208 by Alphonso IX. was removed in 1239 to Salamanca .