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| Pamplona is the capital of Navarre, famous for the running of the bulls at the festival of Saint Fermin. |
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| Pamplona was originally the capital of the Vascones tribe, predecessors of the Basques, who called it Iruna (the city). |
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| Pamplona was later used by (and named after) Pompey in 75 B.C. as a base to wage war against rebel Roman general Sertorius. |
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| The Citadel of Pamplona was built in the 16th century to consolidate control of the Spanish border and former Kingdom of Navarre. |
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| The Basques of Pamplona shifted alliances between Franks, Visigoths, and Moors to maintain as much autonomy as possible. |
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| The Basques defeated Charlemagne's army at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778 after Charlemagne destroyed Pamplona's walls. The first King of Pamplona was elected in 824, but remained under the influence of the Caliphate of Cordoba. |
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| In the 9th century the Kingdom of Pamplona emerged and maintained independence by forming an alliance with the Banu Qasi, a neighboring quasi-independent Moorish territory. The Jimenez dynasty, which would rule most Christian Spanish kingdoms at some point between the 9th and 13th centuries, emerged during this period. |
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| The Caliphate of Cordoba sacked Pamplona in the 10th century, and it did not recover until the 11th century, partially due to pilgrims passing through on the Way of St. James. |
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| A large Roman mosaic |
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| Sancho III the Great led Pamplona to its height, ruling Christian Spain from Galicia to Barcelona, including Leon. When he died in 1035, the quad-partition of his kingdom severely weakened it. |
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| A 4th or 5th century Roman mosaic from Tudela, Navarre's second biggest city and former Banu Qasi capital |
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| A 14th century sarcophagus |
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| Sancho III's sons were very ambitious. One of them, Ramiro, founded the Kingdom of Aragon, and eventually displaced his brother's offspring as King of Pamplona by partitioning its territory with Castile. |
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| An inscription from the 970s about King Sancho II and his bishop |
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| Column capitals from Pamplona Cathedral from the 12th century depicting biblical scenes |
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| King Garcia the Restorer switched his title from King of Pamplona to King of Navarre in 1134 upon being elected and the kingdom reasserting its independence. |
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| Navarre, claimed by Aragon and encroached upon by Castile, through happenstance of marriages and untimely deaths passed into the hands of the counts of Champagne in France in the 13th century. |
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| A famous French ruler was Charles the Bad, who allied with and betrayed France and England numerous times during the Hundred Years' War for his own gain. His death was fitting: as a treatment for a disease he was wrapped in brandy-soaked cloth, and one evening he was accidentally lit on fire. |
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| A Cordovan box from the 11th century |
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| Between 1512 and 1529 Ferdinand II of Aragon and Charles the V used Pope Julius II's Holy League against France as an excuse to conquer Navarre. The Treaty of Cambrai solidified the Pyrenees as the border between France and Spain. |
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| 14th century paintings from Pamplona Cathedral |
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| A 15th century painting |
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| Those sheep must have produced a lot of wool. |
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| 16th century murals from a palace. I haven't seen to many folks playing the instrument the gentlemen up top are wearing. |
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| The current Pamplona Cathedral was built in the 15th century. |
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| The cathedral was built on Roman ruins from the 1st century B.C. |
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| The 15th century mausoleum of King Carlos and Queen Leonor of Navarre |
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| The cathedral was leveled by the Caliphate of Cordoba in the 10th century. |
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| The Navarrese Cortes was also held at the cathedral. |
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| A 14th century depiction of the genealogy of Christ, also known as the Tree of Jesse |
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| Pamplona has a strong Tapas game. |
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| Bar Gaucho is a great place to get some of the city's best tapas. |
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| The gin and tonic isn't bad either! |
