SIMANCAS

town, Valladolid provincia, in the Castile-Len comunidad autnoma (autonomous community), north-central Spain. It lies on the right bank of the Pisuerga River, just southwest of Valladolid city. The town originated as the Roman Septimanca, and its most important landmark is a citadel dating from the Moorish occupation in the 9th century. This citadel is now the Archivo General del Reino, to which the national archives of Spain were removed by order of Philip II in 1563. It houses important private as well as state documents. Simancas is an agricultural trade centre. Pop. (1991 prelim.) 1,996.