Museo de Telas Medievales de Burgos, Burgos

The Museum of Medieval Cloth, located in the Monastery of Las Huelgas Reales, in the city of Burgos, is a museum that houses medieval female, male, and child civilian clothing from the xi, xii, and xiii centuries.

Due to the high degree of conservation, the richness of the pieces and their ancient dating, it is considered the most important museum of its kind in the world. The textile curator of Patrimonio Real, Concha Herrero, affirms that it is the only perfectly dated set of medieval civilian clothing. This affirmation took place during the inauguration of the reopening of this space that has gained space, going from 240 m² to 400 m², as well as adding new pieces.

Although the set of pieces found is made up of some three hundred elements, the exhibition is made up of 51 pieces on which an exhaustive task of restoration and cleaning has been carried out. The surprisingly good state of conservation of the textiles is attributed to the high quality of the silk, which has allowed them to be preserved despite the state of rotting inside the tombs.

One of the most striking pieces and of great historical value is the misnamed Banner of Las Navas de Tolosa. It is a large piece woven on a loom, so that the fabric and the drawing were formed simultaneously. Tradition has long held that it was on the front of the tent of the Arab Sultan Muhammad an-Nasir, who was defeated by Alfonso VIII of Castile in the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. However, the famous banner of Las Navas de Tolosa was a trophy won by Ferdinand III of Castile in the conquest of the Guadalquivir valley in the mid-13th century. In any case, it is an Almohad tapestry of the 13th century with Arabic inscriptions and iconography.