Oficial Web Site of Alava Tourism

The Battle of Vitoria

INFORMATION
Vitoria-Gasteiz Municipal Tourist Office
Plaza General Loma, s/n
01004 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Tel. 945 16 15 98
www.vitoria-gasteiz.org/turismo


Alava Incoming
Eduardo Dato, 38
01005 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Tel. 945 14 18 00
Fax. 945 14 3156
info@alavaincoming.com
www.alavaincoming.com

We would like to propose a very special route. Specifically, we would like to go back in time to the War of Independence of Spain against France, in the first half of the 19th century. The route begins in the villages of Mendoza (1), in the municipality of Iruña, and La Puebla de Arganzón (2), near the capital of Alava. This is where the famous Battle of Vitoria took place between the French army, under the command of Joseph Bonaparte, and the allied troops of England, Spain and Portugal, led by the Duque de Wellington and General Alava. From here you must drive to Vitoria-Gasteiz via the N-1 and the N-2 to visit the Arms Museum (3), where you can see a mock-up of both armies in the battlefield, as well as uniforms, maps and weapons used by the soldiers on both sides.

The route continues through the emblematic Plaza de la Virgen Blanca (4) at the centre of which you will find the monument to the Battle of Vitoria. Just a few meters away, in the Plaza de España (5) you will find a clock on the façade of the Town Hall, which, at midday, plays the famous overture Beethoven wrote to commemorate “The Battle of Vitoria”. You will also see the home of General Alava, where the Duke of Wellington stayed. In the district of Lakua you will find a street named after this famous English military figure.