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Near the hotel a plaque on the 15th-century church of Santa Agueda marks the site where the Cid forced his king

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Near the hotel, a plaque on the 15th-century church of Santa Agueda marks the site where the Cid forced his king to swear a public oath. There are big ones (up to 4,000 pesetas) to hang on the wall and frighten the neighbours, or little ones (from 300 pesetas) just useful enough to rip into those bills that worm through your letter box.Somehow, staying at the Hotel Meson del Cid seemed the only thing to do. The banks of the river Arlanzon (where the Cid camped as he began his exile) are still surprisingly green, fringed with bull-rushes. But to get the best feeling for the city, take the tourist train tour.

Inside the gatehouse, a glass case contains an inscribed bone with a hand-written "guarantee" of its authenticity as a relic of the Cid himself.Seeing old Burgos on foot gives you time to take in the cobbled squares, the palacios and the churches. Born in 1043, he rose to become a royal favourite, until his king banished him - twice. At a time when resistance to the Moorish presence in Spain was in need of a hero, the exiled Rodrigo went freelance Legend speaks of an all-conquering Christian saviour. History confirms Rodrigo's astonishing military success, but also reveals a mercenary who fought in the pay of a Moorish king and then, in the name of his own God, plundered great wealth for himself. It was a Moor who first dubbed him "al Sayyidi", Arabic for "the Lord". In 1094, the Cid sensationally took Valencia from the Moors, staying there until his death in 1099.No wonder the Cid became a talisman for Franco's nationalist revival of the Thirties. It is no coincidence that Franco chose Burgos, city of the Cid, as his first headquarters.

The vain General spoke of himself as a modern El Cid.Entering the city by the bridge of San Pablo, you pass eight Fifties stone statues of characters from the Poema (good job I had it with me). Then you are confronted by the Cid himself: a stunning bronze equestrian statue that Franco unveiled in 1955.Picking your way around the tightly-packed medieval quarter of Burgos, you'll notice that the gift shops are full of replicas of the Cid's broadsword La Tizona (the real thing is in a glass case in Madrid's military museum). The place was clearly struggling to provide an atmosphere, though defeat seemed in-built.Out in the sun, we gazed at the only building that looked in keeping with the world of the Cid, the convent of Santa Clara. Here, the nuns preserved the unique manuscript of the 13th-century Poema do Mio Cid, the best-known account of the Cid's life and exploits. So, with paperback in hand, we set off for Burgos - Cid City, if the hype was to be believed.The six-kilometre drive from Vivar to Burgos offers powerful glimpses of the parched rolling plains where the young Rodrigo grew up.

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