Vitoria

Vitoria-Gasteiz is the capital city of the province of Álava and of the autonomous community of the Basque Country in northern Spain. It is the second largest Basque city, after Bilbao. Vitoria until the 1980's was a sleepy, quiet hamlet. It was in the early 1980's that it was chosen as the headquarters for the Basque region's government. Vitoria was founded on the site of a small hamlet called Gasteiz, perched on the top of a hill. Sancho el Sabio, king of Navarre and founder of the city chose Gasteiz as a stronghold against Castille and granted the town its charter in 1181. Vitoria continued to grow, protected behind the city walls. It had three streets which crossed the hill from north to south, around which the town was laid out in the shape of an almond.