Palencia

City and capital of the province of Palencia, northern Spain, on the River Carrión; population (2001) 79,800. Industries include rolling stock, agricultural machinery, textiles, pottery, and soap; it has a bell foundry. There is a Gothic cathedral, begun in 1321, which contains paintings by El Greco and Zurbarán. The first modern university in Spain was founded here in 1208, but was transferred to Salamanca later in the same century.