Aguilar de Campoo lies on the banks of the Pisuerga in the northern part of the province of Palencia, at the edge of the Montaña Palentina. Its historic centre has a distinctly northern Castilian character, with stone houses, arcaded streets, medieval gateways and substantial mansions with carved coats of arms and enclosed galleries. Among its most important buildings are the Romanesque monastery of Santa María la Real, the Collegiate Church of San Miguel, the hilltop medieval castle and the Convento de Santa Clara, a fifteenth-century Gothic convent beside the river that is still occupied by the Poor Clares. The surrounding countryside is largely pastoral and agricultural, with cattle, sheep, cereals and woodland, while the town has also developed a distinctive food industry centred on biscuit production. What sets Aguilar apart from many Castilian towns is the combination of its remarkably rich Romanesque heritage, mountain setting and well-preserved medieval townscape, together with the sense that it remains a working regional centre rather than simply a historic monument.