Vitoria-Gasteiz
Vitoria-Gasteiz is the caipital ceety o the province o Álava an o the autonomous commonty o the Basque Kintra in northren Spain. The ceety o Vitoria lairgely maintains it's medieval traces in the auld toun an it haulds the Hoose o Pairlament, heidquarters o the govrenent an the Lehendakari's offeecial residency. The ceety haes a population o 242,084 fowk (2014) an is the seicont lairgest ceety in the autonomous commonty. The dwellers o the ceety are cried Vitorianos or Gasteiztarras, while tradeetionally they are dubbit Babazorros (Basque for 'bean eaters').
Vitoria-Gasteiz Vitoria (in Spaingie) Gasteiz (in Basque) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Virgen Blanca Square o Vitoria-Gasteiz | |||
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| Motto(s): Haec est Victoria quae vincit (This is Victoria which triumphs) | |||
  Vitoria-Gasteiz Location o Vitoria-Gasteiz athin the Basque Kintra | |||
| Coordinates: 42°51′N 2°41′W / 42.850°N 2.683°WCoordinates: 42°51′N 2°41′W / 42.850°N 2.683°W | |||
| Kintra |  Spain | ||
| Autonomous commonty |  Basque Kintra | ||
| Province | Álava | ||
| Comarca | Vitoria | ||
| Foondit | 1181 | ||
| Govrenment | |||
| • Alcalde | Javier Maroto (Fowkpairty) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 276.81 km2 (106.88 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 525 m (1,722 ft) | ||
| Population (2014) | |||
| • Tot | 242,084 | ||
| • Density | 870/km2 (2,300/sq mi) | ||
| Demonym(s) | Vitoriano, -na Gasteiztarra | ||
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) | ||
| Postal code | 01001 - 01015 | ||
| Offeecial leid(s) | Spainyie, Basque | ||
| Wabsteid | Offeecial wabsteid | ||
Vitoria is a multicultural ceety wi strenths in the airts, commerce, eddication, halthcare, research, airchitectural conservation, oenology an gastronomy.
HistoryEedit
In the year 581 the Visigoth keeng Liuvigild foondit the ceety o Victoriacum, tryin tae emulate the Roman foondations, as a celebration o the victory against the Vascones near wha is assumit tae be the hill occupee'd bi the primitive veelage o Gasteiz. This housomeivver is no sufficiently pruiven, an some historians an experts believe that Victoriacum wis locatit no on the steid o present-day Vitoria-Gasteiz but nearbi, probably at the fuit o Munt Gorbea whaur thare is a veelage cried Vitoriano.
In the year 1181, Sancho VI the Wise, Keeng o Navarre foondit the toun o Nueva Victoria as a defensive ootpost on tap o a hill at the steid o the previous dounset o Gasteiz. In 1200, the toun wis captured bi the troops o Alfonso VIII o Castile, who annexed the toun tae the Kinrick o Castile. The toun wis progressively enlairgit an in 1431 it wis grantit the title o Ceety bi Keeng Juan II o Castile. In 1463, it wis ane o the five foondin villas o the Britherhuid o Álava alangside Sajazarra, Miranda de Ebro, Pancorbo an Salvatierra.
The Battle o Vitoria o the Peninsular War occurred near Vitoria-Gasteiz alang the river Zadorra on 21 Juin 1813. An allee'd Breetish, Portuguese, an Spainyie airmy unner General the Marquess o Wellington brak the French airmy unner Joseph Bonaparte an Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan. The victory assured the eventual end o French control in Spain. Thare is a monument commemoratin this battle in the main square o the ceety kent as the Monument tae Unthirldom - Monumento a la Independencia.
When news came tae Vienna in late Julie o that year, Johann Nepomuk Mälzel commissioned Ludwig van Beethoven tae compone a symphony, the op. 91 Wellingtons Sieg oder die Schlacht bei Vittoria or Siegessymphonie.
Wirk began on Institute for Middle Education in 1843, wi clesses beginnin durin the 1853-54 academic year. It is nou the current heidquarters o the Basque Pairlament an umwhile the convent o Santa Clara. The Free Varsity open in the wak o the revolution o 1868. The Varsity operatit frae 1869, tae juist prior tae the 1873-1874 term, lairgely acause o the seicont Carlist War. Chief academics wur Ricardo Becerro de Bengoa, Julián Apraiz, Federico Baraibar, an so on. This latter, great Hellenist (1851–1918), wis amang the first teachers o Basque in Vitoria-Gasteiz an aw as a aff-seellabus subject.
Durin the Spainyie transition tae democracy, the Kirk o St. Francis o Assisi wis the scene o the Mairch 3 Killin o 1976 efter clashes atween polis an strikin wirkers. Unner the orders o Interior Meenister Manuel Fraga, the polis stormit on a shootin spree intae a packit kirk intae which demonstrators haed retreatit, resultin in five deid an ower 100 woondit.
On 20 Mey 1980, bi decision o the Basque Pairlament, Vitoria-Gasteiz became the caipital o the Basque Kintra.
ClimateEedit
| Climate data for Foronda-Txokiza (1971-2000) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record heich °C (°F) | 18.7 (65.7) |
21.5 (70.7) |
26.6 (79.9) |
29.1 (84.4) |
33.0 (91.4) |
37.4 (99.3) |
38.4 (101.1) |
40.8 (105.4) |
37.2 (99.0) |
29.3 (84.7) |
22.2 (72.0) |
20.3 (68.5) |
40.8 (105.4) |
| Average heich °C (°F) | 8.3 (46.9) |
10.5 (50.9) |
13.3 (55.9) |
14.5 (58.1) |
18.7 (65.7) |
22.0 (71.6) |
25.3 (77.5) |
25.7 (78.3) |
23.2 (73.8) |
17.5 (63.5) |
12.1 (53.8) |
9.0 (48.2) |
16.8 (62.2) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 4.7 (40.5) |
5.9 (42.6) |
7.9 (46.2) |
9.2 (48.6) |
12.9 (55.2) |
15.9 (60.6) |
18.7 (65.7) |
19.1 (66.4) |
16.6 (61.9) |
12.4 (54.3) |
7.9 (46.2) |
5.6 (42.1) |
11.5 (52.7) |
| Average law °C (°F) | 1.0 (33.8) |
1.4 (34.5) |
2.4 (36.3) |
3.9 (39.0) |
7.1 (44.8) |
9.8 (49.6) |
12.1 (53.8) |
12.5 (54.5) |
10.1 (50.2) |
7.2 (45.0) |
3.6 (38.5) |
2.2 (36.0) |
6.1 (43.0) |
| Record law °C (°F) | −17.8 (0.0) |
−15.4 (4.3) |
−9.2 (15.4) |
−3.8 (25.2) |
−2.2 (28.0) |
1.0 (33.8) |
3.2 (37.8) |
0.8 (33.4) |
0.2 (32.4) |
−2.7 (27.1) |
−9.4 (15.1) |
−11.5 (11.3) |
−17.8 (0.0) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 76 (3.0) |
65 (2.6) |
61 (2.4) |
86 (3.4) |
70 (2.8) |
51 (2.0) |
43 (1.7) |
45 (1.8) |
42 (1.7) |
74 (2.9) |
89 (3.5) |
80 (3.1) |
779 (30.7) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 1 mm) | 10 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 103 |
| Average snawy days | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 83 | 79 | 73 | 72 | 71 | 71 | 71 | 71 | 71 | 77 | 82 | 84 | 75 |
| Mean monthly sunshine oors | 82 | 106 | 145 | 154 | 182 | 207 | 239 | 221 | 178 | 137 | 95 | 73 | 1,830 |
| Source: Agencia Estatal de Meterología[1] | |||||||||||||
Economy an demographicsEedit
The economy o Vitoria-Gasteiz is diverse, an mony manufacturin companies hae operations thare, includin Mercedes-Benz, Michelin, Gamesa [1] an Heraclio Fournier, the latter bein heidquairtered thare. The ceety haes been rankit seicont in staundart o livin amang aw ceeties in Spain, an first as tae green auries an cultural places per caipita.
CulturEedit
MuisicEedit
Vitoria-Gasteiz hosts twa annual internaitional muisic festivals:
- The International Vitoria-Gasteiz Jazz Festival, frae the 12t tae the 18t o Julie (the 2009 Edition).
- The Azkena Rock Festival, in late August an early September.
Local festivitiesEedit
The Andre Maria Zuriaren jaiak festival is celebratit ivery year frae the 4t tae the 9t o August in honour o the patron saunt o the ceety, an features a programme o special events, activities an free open-air concerts.
VarsitiesEedit
The leeberal airts section o the Varsity o the Basque Kintra is based in the sooth pairt o the ceety. Focusin on history an linguistics, the Álava campus is an aa hame o the Faculty o Pharmacy, as well as some ither technical, teachin an business relatit degrees.
Its oreegins date back frae 1847 when the first Escuela Normal de Maestros de Álava wis established. A whole ither nummer o colleges an faculties wur adoptit in 1978 bi the emergin Varsity o the Basque Kintra.
TransportEedit
Bi road: Vitoria is connectit baith wi the rest o the Basque caipital an wi Madrid, acause the ceety is a step on the N-1/A-1. Thare are twa motorweys in the municipality an a futur motorwey service: The N-1 Madrid-Irun, the N-620 Vitoria-Altube an its connection wi the AP-68 Logroño-Bilbao, an as o the end o 2009, the new AP-1 atween Vitoria an Eibar, an attempt tae alleviate the problems caused bi congestit traffec on the N-1/A-1.
Bi rail: The Madrid-Irun in Vitoria is ane o its maist important stops. Hauf a dozen trains each day linkin the ceety wi the Spainyie caipital, heichlichtin the service Alvia (At 10.09 in the fore-nuin), which, via Valladolid, uisses the infrastructur o the AVE tae arrive in 3 oors 43 minutes tae Madrid. Thare are great connections wi Castile an León, Galicie, Catalonie, Alicante, Asturias, Lisbon an Paris an aw. Amang the deficits wirth heichlichtin are the lack o rail services connectin wi Andalusie (nane) an the lack o a rail link wi Bilbao. In 2013 a heich-speed line is expectit tae inaugurate tae connect Vitoria wi Madrid, Bilbao an San Sebastián amang ither ceeties.
Bi air: The ceety is servit bi Vitoria Airport.
SportsEedit
- Deportivo Alavés, fitbaa team currently playin in the Segunda División B. Hame matches are played in the Estadio Mendizorrotza.
- Baskonia (an aa kent as Caja Laboral), Basketbaw team in the ACB. They play in the Fernando Buesa Arena.
- Inigo Calderon, fitbaa player currently playin for Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. (Championship, Ingland).
- Almudena Cid, rhythmic gymnast nou retired, 8 times naitional champion, she teuk pairt at 4 oleempic feenals at Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 an Beijing 2008, an aa she teuk pairt in 9 warld championships an 12 European championships.
Internaitional relationsEedit
Twin touns – Sister ceetiesEedit
Vitoria-Gasteiz is twinned wi:
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ReferencesEedit
- ↑ "Balio Klimatologiko Normalak. Foronda-Txokiza". AEMET. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
- ↑ "National Commission for Decentralised cooperation". Délégation pour l’Action Extérieure des Collectivités Territoriales (Ministère des Affaires étrangères) (in French). Retrieved 2013-12-26.
Freemit airtinsEedit
| Wikimedia Commons haes media relatit tae Vitoria-Gasteiz. |