At the heart of the independent community of Navarre, in a fertile plain, rises Pamplona ('Iruña' in Basque), the capital of the Spanish Basque Country. Located on the path to Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle, the town has an historic architecture inherited from the Romans, the Visigoths, the Moors, the Franks and the Spanish, who all occupied it at some point in history: the palace of Navarre, the Gothic cathedral or even the magnificent church of Santa Maria la Real... Celebrated in the novel The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, its bullfight (encierro), the most famous in Spain, takes place in July during the San Fermín festival and attracts thousands of visitors every year. An old fortified town, Pamplona is surrounded by nature of unequalled beauty between the Navarrese Pyrenees and the natural park of Urbassa and Adía. Between Spanish and Basque culture, Pamplona is a pleasant, authentic and festive town. A destination off the beaten track, perfect for learning Spanish.