Pamplona

Pamplona , city (1990 pop. 183,525), capital of Navarre , N Spain, on the Arga River. An older spelling is Pampeluna. It is an important communications, agricultural, and industrial center, manufacturing crafts, paper, and chemicals. The Univ. of Navarre (1952) is there.

An ancient city of the Basques , it was repeatedly captured (5th-9th cent.) by the Visigoths, the Franks, and the Moors, but none of the conquerors—not even Charlemagne , who took it in 778 and razed its walls—exercised control for long. In 824 the Basque kingdom of Pamplona, later called the kingdom of Navarre, was founded. Pamplona remained the capital of Navarre until 1512, when Ferdinand V united the major part of Navarre with Castile. In the Peninsular War , Pamplona was taken (1808) by the French and (1813) by the English.

The city is still surrounded by old walls and fortifications and has retained its Gothic cathedral (14th-15th cent.). The celebration of the feast of San Fermin, described in Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, is marked by running bulls to the bullring. Many residents and visitors run with the bulls through the streets, risking injury and even death.

Pamplona a city in northern Spain, capital of the former kingdom and modern region of Navarre, noted for the fiesta of San Fermin, held there in July, which is celebrated with the running of bulls through the streets of the city.

Pamplona City in n Spain; capital of Navarre province. Rebuilt by Pompey in 68 bc, Charlemagne conquered the city in ad 778. In the 11th century, it became capital of the Kingdom of Navarre. In 1512, control of Pamplona passed to Ferdinand of Aragon, who united Navarre with Castile. In 1813, during the Peninsular War, the Duke of Wellington (1813) captured Pamplona from the French. Every July, in the fiesta of San Fermin, bulls are driven through the city streets. Industries: rope and pottery manufacture. Pop. (2000) 182,666.