PAMPLONA, or PAMPELUNA  , the capital of the Spanish province of Navarre, and an episcopal see; situated 1378 ft. above sea-level, on the left bank of the Arga, a tributary of the Ebro . Pop . (1900), 28,886 . Pamplona has a station on the Ebro railway connecting Alsasua with Saragossa . From its position it has always been the principal fortress of Navarre . The old outworks have been partly demolished and replaced by modern forts, while suburbs have grown up round the inner walls and bastions . The citadel, south-west of the city, was constructed by order of Philip II . (1556–1598), and was modelled on that of'Antwerp . The streets of the city are regular and broad; there are three fine squares or plazas . The most attractive of these is the arcaded Plaza del Castillo, flanked by the hall of the provincial council and by the theatre . The cathedral is a late Gothic structure begun in 1397 by Charles III . (El Noble) of Navarre, who is buried within its walls; of the older Romanesque cathedral only a small portion of the cloisters remains .

The fine interior is remarkable for the

peculiar structure of its apse, and for the choir-stalls carved in English oak by Miguel Ancheta, a native artist (1530) . The principal facade is Corinthian, from designs of Ventura Rodriguez (1783) . The same architect designed the superb aqueduct by which the city is supplied with water from Monte Francoa, some nine miles off . The beautiful cloisters on the south side of the cathedral, and the chapter-house beyond them, as well as the old churches of San Saturnino (Gothic) and San Nicolas (Romanesque), are also of interest to the student of architecture . There are also the bull-ring, capable of accommodating 8000 spectators, the pelota court (el Trinquete) and several parks or gardens . The city is well provided with schools for both sexes; it has also a large hospital . Pamplona has a flourishing agricultural trade, besides manufactures of cloth, linen stuffs, flour, soap, leather, cards, paper, earthenware, iron and nails . The yearly fair in connexion with the feast of San Fermin (July 7), the patron saint of the city, attracts a large concourse from all parts of northern Spain . Originally a town of the Vascones, Pamplona was rebuilt in 68 B.C. by Pompey the Great, whence the name Pompaelo or Pompelo (Strabo) . It was captured by Euric the Goth in 466 and by the Franks under Childebert in 542; it was dismantled by Charlemagne in 778, but repulsed the emir of Saragossa in 907 . In the 14th century it was greatly strengthened and beautified by Charles III., who built a citadel on the site now occupied by the Plaza de Toros and by the Basilica de S . Ignacio, the church marking the spot where Ignatius de Loyola received his wound in defending the place against Andre de Foix in 1521 .

From 18o8 it was occupied by the

French until taken by Wellington in 1813 . In the Carlist War of 1836–4o it was held by the Cristinos, and in 1875–76 it was more than once attacked, but never taken, by the Carlists .