Salamanca, with about 146,000 inhabitants, is a provincial capital of Castile and León, on the Tormes river. Built of Villamayor sandstone, which glows gold at sunset, it is called la Dorada. The old city has been a UNESCO site since 1988. With tens of thousands of Spanish and foreign students, it is young and lively, and a favourite place to learn Spanish.
The University
The University of Salamanca, founded in 1218 by King Alfonso IX of León, is Spain's oldest university still in operation and one of the oldest in Europe. Antonio de Nebrija, author of the first Castilian grammar, the poet Fray Luis de León, the theologians of the School of Salamanca, pioneers of international law, and Miguel de Unamuno, its rector, all taught or studied here. The plateresque façade of the Escuelas Mayores is a masterpiece of carving: tradition says whoever finds the frog hidden on a skull will pass their exams. Inside you can visit Fray Luis de León's lecture hall and the extraordinary old library.
What to see
- The 18th-century Baroque Plaza Mayor, by Alberto Churriguera, considered one of Spain's finest, the city's meeting place.
- The Romanesque Old Cathedral, with Nicolás Florentino's altarpiece, and the Gothic and Baroque New Cathedral, built side by side. On the New Cathedral's doorway, look for the astronaut carved during a 1992 restoration. The towers, on the Ieronimus route, offer spectacular views.
- The Casa de las Conchas, a 15th-century palace decorated with over three hundred scallop shells.
- La Clerecía, the former Jesuit college, with towers you can climb.
- The Dominican convent of San Esteban, with its plateresque façade, where Columbus presented his plans.
- The Roman bridge over the Tormes and the Huerto de Calixto y Melibea, the garden linked to La Celestina.
- The Art Nouveau and Art Deco Museum, in the Casa Lis.
Life and food
In the evening students fill the bars around the Plaza Mayor and Calle Van Dyck, famous for tapas. Specialities: hornazo, a pie filled with cured meats, farinato, Guijuelo Iberian ham, chanfaina and lechazo. Lunes de Aguas, the Monday after Easter Monday, is celebrated with a hornazo picnic on the banks of the Tormes.
Getting there
Salamanca is about 200 km from Madrid, linked by Alvia train in about an hour and a half. See also Ciudad Rodrigo and Zamora.