Merchants' Route: San Nicolás de Bari, San Gil and the Museo del Retablo

Behind the cathedral, in the upper town, three churches paid for by the wool merchants can be visited with a single €7 ticket. The Merchants' Route brings together the church of San Nicolás de Bari, that of San Gil Abad and the Museo del Retablo, in the former church of San Esteban, within less than a kilometre of streets. It is the Burgos of the 15th and 16th centuries, when the city sold wool to Flanders and England and wealthy families were buried in chapels of their own. Allow an hour and a half for all three, unhurried.

San Nicolás de Bari, the stone altarpiece

It is a couple of minutes' walk from the cathedral, round the back. It was paid for by the Polanco family, merchants, and its jewel is the high altarpiece, carved in Hontoria stone, the same as the cathedral, by Simón and Francisco de Colonia, with more than 460 figures. Among the scenes, Saint Nicholas giving three bags of gold to save three young women and the miracle of the three boys restored to life. The church also holds a collection of Flemish tapestries, including those of the story of Jacob, a large Hispano-Flemish panel of the Last Judgement and a 15th-century Christ of the Agony. It is open every day from 11:30 to 19:00, with last entry at 18:30; on Monday there is Mass at 19:30 and on Sunday at 11:00.

San Gil Abad, the merchants' church

San Gil stands against the old wall and was the pantheon of the city's traders, with chapels, gilded altarpieces and tombs. The chapel of the Nativity, circular in plan with a star vault, required the wall to be breached in 1523 with the council's permission. In the chapel of the Buena Mañana Saint Teresa used to pray during her stay in Burgos, and in another the Cristo de las Gotas is venerated. The nave floor, of white and black slabs, is the Via Sacra that leads to the high altar. It is open Monday to Saturday from 11:30 to 19:00 and Sundays and public holidays from 10:45 to 19:00, but it cannot be visited during services; the ticket office closes half an hour earlier.

Museo del Retablo, in San Esteban

The Gothic church of San Esteban, on the castle hillside, brings together more than 30 restored altarpieces that the Archbishopric collected from rural churches in the province threatened by depopulation, along with silverwork and paintings from the 10th to the 19th centuries. It has a choir by Simón de Colonia, from 1502, and a cloister with the chapel of Todos los Santos. In winter, from November to 18 March, it is open from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 19:00; from 19 March to 31 October, from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 17:00 to 20:00.

Tickets and tips

Each church costs €4 (reduced €3), two cost €6 and all three €7 (reduced €6). On Tuesday from 17:00 to 19:00 admission is free. Buy on the route's website or at each ticket office, and the free app Visita Ars Mercatorum Burgos works as a guide. Start at San Nicolás, go up to San Esteban and come down to San Gil; from San Esteban the steps lead to the castle.