VALLADOLID, ARCIDIOCESI of. — Capital city of the province of the same name in Spain.
The archdiocese has an area of 2,400 sq. km. and a population of 220,000 inhabitants, almost all Catholics, distributed among 94 parishes served by 209 diocesan and 135 religious priests; it has a conciliar seminary, 20 male and 64 female religious communities (Ann. Pont. 1953, p. 441).
At the request of Philip II, who had been born in V., Pope Clement VIII created the diocese of V. on 25 September 1595, by detaching the southern part of the diocese of Palencia, as a suffragan diocese of Toledo. The name V. appears for the first time during the period of Arab rule as Belad Valed (Land of the Vali); from the 13th century it was the seat of the governors of Castile and was favored by the kings of Spain; three provincial Councils were held there. The Cathedral was built on the site of the ancient collegiate church of the 11th century; construction was begun by Philip II in 1580, under the architect Herrera, and later continued by Churriguera and then by Ventura Rodriguez, but was never completed. Of the four towers planned for the exterior, only one was completed, but it collapsed in 1841 and was rebuilt in 1880–85; it is now surmounted by a statue of the Sacred Heart, which is illuminated at night. Inside, with its three naves, the high altar preserves a retablo by Juan de Juni and the Assumption by D. Velázquez; at the end of the right-hand nave there is a Transfiguration by Luca Giordano. In the sacristy there is a silver tabernacle, a masterpiece by Juan de Arfe (1590). The church of St. Mary la Antigua, or of the Assumption, was founded in 1095, transformed in the 14th century, and restored in 1932; the bell tower and cloister are Romanesque; the three-naved interior displays a mixture of Romanesque and Gothic elements.
The church of Nuestra Señora de las Angustias was built between 1597 and 1604; in a chapel on the right it contains the image of the Virgen de los Cochillos by Juan de Juni. The church of St. Michael dates from the end of the 16th century; that of St. Nicholas from the 17th; that of St. Lawrence from the 15th, and was transformed in the 17th; it contains an ancient image of the Blessed Virgin, which was crowned in 1917; the church of the Passion has a Baroque façade (1666). The church of St. Benito el Viejo was transformed in 1583; the churches of the Magdalene, St. Philip Neri, and the Most Holy Savior date from the 16th century. On the site where the Sacred Heart appeared to Fr. Bernardo de Hoyos, the National Shrine of the Gran Promesa was built, and it became a destination for pilgrimages. The church of St. James, dating from 1490, contains a retablo by Berruguete with the Adoration of the Magi. The Colegio Mayor de S. Cruz was built between 1487 and 1491; above the portal is an image of its founder, Cardinal P. Gonzales de Mendoza. Inside are the Provincial Archaeological Museum and the Library, containing more than 50,000 volumes and valuable manuscripts. The Dominican Colegio de S. Gregorio, founded by Innocent VIII and built between 1488 and 1496, achieved great renown. V. Jesuits. Christopher Columbus died in V. in 1506; in his honor, a monument was erected in 1905 at the Madrid Gate. The house of Cervantes, which he occupied in 1605, now houses the Public Library. A Benedictine branch known as the Congregation of S. Benito de V. developed in V. Founded in 1390, it flourished especially from the 16th century until 1835, when it became extinct. The relevant documents are preserved for the most part in the monastery of S. Domenico de Silos. — Vedi tav. LXXXIX.