Salamanca, Spain's Golden City

“Salamanca that conjures the will to return in all those who have enjoyed the calmness of its dwelling.” So wrote Cervantes in the early 17th century and true enough, Salamanca, home to one of the world’s most ancient universities and with dreaming spires aplenty, could be said to provoke a certain calm in the beholder. with “the will  to return”  because a weekend break is just not long enough to see them all.

That calm may even be descried as an ‘awed’ calm, born not merely from the majesty and harmony of the city’s architectural wonders, but also from their sheer number. Hardly surprising, therefore, that visitors find themselves.

Often referred to as the “Golden City”, Salamanca owes much of its architectural wealth to the nearby Villamayor quarries, source of a very fine grain, honey coloured, soft sandstone from which virtually the entire city is built. The freshly quarried stone retains the moisture of the quarry thus lending itself to the most intricate carving. In consequence, few places in the world can match Salamanca’s spellbinding assembly of Gothic and Renaissance plateresque* master works.

The old town is a relatively compact arrangement of mostly narrow streets on the north bank of the River Tormes, easily negotiated on foot, however, going can be slow because scarcely more than a few steps can be taken without a stop to admire some wonderful statue, façade, or cloister.

A taste of knowledge

Having been first settled by Celtiberian tribes, sacked by Hannibal in 220 BC, then successively occupied by Romans, Visigoths and Moors, the city’s history can be traced back some 3.000 years. However, the real turning point in Salamanca’s fortune was the founding of its university by Alfonso IX in 1218, making it one of the oldest university cities in Europe along with Paris, Bologna and Oxford.

Quickly establishing itself as a major seat of learning and enjoying the patronage of the monarchy, notably Queen Isabella (1451-1504), by the beginning of the 16th century the university had become the fulcrum of a prolific artistic output, much of which is still visible throughout the city. During this period, 8.000 students per year enrolled on courses ranging from astronomy to medicine and university scholars were regularly consulted by the monarchy on matters of law and policy, as Carlos I (1500-1558) said, “This university is the treasury from which I furnish justice and government to my people of Spain.”

The university’s zenith coincided with the career of one of its most renowned progenies, Fray Luis de León, whose statue stands in a small plaza facing the university’s main façade. First a student then a professor, Fray Luis distinguished himself as the greatest Spanish prose writer of the 16th century and one of the finest poets in the language. A member of the Augustine Order, he was denounced by the Dominicans for having criticised the Vulgate of St Jerome and was arrested in 1572 in mid-lecture and imprisoned by the Inquisition until 1576. On his eventual exoneration and release, he returned to his lecture hall, mounted the lectern and calmly took up where he had left off almost five years earlier with the words “As we were saying yesterday…”

But the Inquisition did not relax its grasp on the University of Salamanca, whose freedom of thought it found deeply worrying. Having persuaded Queen Isabella to expel all Jews from Spain in 1492, no student suspected of having Jewish blood was accepted into the University thereafter. More and more books were banned as heretical and by the mid 17th century, medicine and mathematics had entirely disappeared from the curriculum. Furthermore the university began increasingly to favour the intake of sons of the nobility over commoners so that eventually the university, rather than being one of the “four lights of the world” as Pope Alexander IV had described it, became little more than a finishing school for aristocrats. The Peninsular War further hastened the university’s decline, when occupying French troops destroyed 20 of the university’s 25 colleges and for the academic year of 1824, only 300 students enrolled. James A Michener, writing in the 1960s observed: “I know of no other educational institution in the world that started so high as Salamanca to fall so low. Its eclipse was one of the severest blows Spain ever suffered, for with its castration the spark of national vitality ebbed, and any nation today that wishes to attain similar results should start by closing down its equivalent of Salamanca.”

Today the university has recovered somewhat, and while still more prized for its history than its academic record, being regularly beaten in the league tables by Barcelona, Madrid and Seville, it currently has around 33.000 students.

More prizes in store

But to talk of the university is to talk of only a fraction of what Salamanca has to offer. It is literally bristling with enchanting plazas, leafy whispering cloisters, splendid Renaissance palaces and marvellously ornate churches, not to mention two cathedrals, all covered in the most exquisite carving both inside and out. It would take at least a full week to take in all the cultural splendours and to even begin to appreciate the unique atmosphere of a city still steeped in the past yet so vibrantly alive.

The following is a, necessarily pathetic, attempt to short-list some of Salamanca’s delights.

Plaza Mayor

Considered the most beautiful square in Spain and still the pulsing heart of Salamantine daily life, the Plaza Mayor, begun in 1729, designed by Alberto Churriguera, is the epitome of understated 18th century Baroque. It is essentially an irregular rectangle surrounded on all four sides by one continuous building with shaded arcades of semi circular arches supported on columns. Here you will find an array of pleasant cafés and restaurants, ideal for taking a coffee or a cold drink while you watch Salamanca go about its business. Built to accommodate municipal festivals and the city market, bull fights were staged here until the late 19th century.

The spandrels of the arches bear carved medallions, a tradition repeated throughout the city, bearing bas-reliefs of prominent personages from Spanish history such as Fernando and Isabella, Cervantes and El-Cid. Look out for the medallion bearing Generalissimo Franco in the northeastern corner. He is defaced almost daily and usually has ice cream, or some other gooey food substance, dripping from his nose and chin. The north side of the Plaza accommodates the Town Hall topped by a bell gable and Baroque pedestals, while on the east side is the Royal Pavillion (Pabellón Real), vantage point of kings during bullfights.

House of the Shells

Said to be the most beautiful work of Spanish secular Gothic architecture undertaken during the reign of Queen Isabella, the House of the Shells (Casa de Las Conchas) is one of the most famous landmarks in the city. Built as a fortress in 1493, it takes its name from the 16 rows of finely carved cockleshells, which stud its exterior. They were placed there by the founder of the building, Dr Rodrigo Arias, chancellor of the Order of St James whose emblem is the cockleshell, to celebrate the marriage of his son. The building now houses the public library and the tourist information office.

Façade of University

The main university building, Escuelas Mayores was completed in 1433. The façade, however, is 16th century and is one of the most renowned examples of Spanish plateresque. The lower level is dominated by a central medallion depicting Fernando and Isabella, while around and above are a multitude of heraldic, secular and religious motifs in a symbolic arrangement, the significance of which is yet to be divined. It is here that one can indulge in a touch of “find-the-frog.” It is said that if you can spot the carved frog, unaided, somewhere on this façade, you will be blessed with good fortune – and possibly marriage. The frog occurs elsewhere in the city and is a symbol of the transient nature of lecherous pleasures.

The Old Cathedral

Begun in the mid 12th century the Old Cathedral possesses among its many fascinating treasures, a spectacular main altarpiece, comprising 53 panels, depicting the life of Christ and the Virgin, painted in 1433 by the Italian painter Dello Delli. Two years later, his brother Nicolás Florentino painted the fresco in the vault of the apse depicting the Last Judgement. This work is said to have been an inspiration for Michelangelo’s work in the Sistine Chapel.

The New Cathedral

In 1512, the Old Cathedral was described as being a “very small, dark and low building” and in 1513 a new cathedral began to take shape, built around the Old Cathedral on three sides. Taking over 200 years to complete, the New Cathedral was not consecrated until 1733 and is considered the last building constructed in the Spanish Gothic tradition. In fact the building exhibits numerous Renaissance and Baroque features. The façade covered in exquisite plateresque depicts large biblical scenes with numerous figures. Look out for the spaceman and the devil eating an ice-cream cone, modern additions wryly inserted during a recent restoration programme.

The Convent of San Esteban

The façade of the 16th century church is another stunning example of plateresque, while inside is a breathtakingly huge Baroque retable by José Churriguera.

The Palace of Archbishop Fonseca

Founded by Don Alonso de Fonseca, Archbishop of Toledo, in the 16th century to provide accommodation for poor students, the two storey cloister of fluted columns and arches displays a magnificent array of carvings and is one of the most beautiful in the city.

The Palace of Salina

The courtyard of this palace built in 1538 has striking corbels carved into bold nudes each bearing horribly tortured expressions. According to legend, they are likenesses of the original owner’s enemies.

The Royal College of the Holy Spirit (Clerecía)

The twin towers of the Royal College of the Holy Spirit (also known as the Clerecía) form one of the principal features of the Salamantine skyline. Built in the 17th century this outstanding work of Spanish Baroque today houses the Pontifical University. A statue of the Virgin tops the bell gable flanked by statues of the founders of the College.

Eating out

The Salamanca region is renowned for its pork production. Iberian cold cuts are a speciality, as is suckling pig (Conchinillo al Fuego) and Chanfaina, a rice dish with delicious cuts of pork and spicy sausage (chorizo) in rich a sauce.
Restaurants and eating-houses abound in Salamanca and there is always the tasty tapas option available at most bar/cafés if you prefer not to have a full meal. Of course, Salamanca is a student town and there are plenty of places offering meals to suit the student pocket in addition to a range of restaurants offering traditional and international cuisine.

Out at night

With 33.000 students around you can rest assured there is plenty of nightlife. The area around Plaza de San Justo is popular with younger folk where you can find a plethora of bars featuring a range of musical styles. But really the entire city has such a variety of bars, there is sure to be something for everyone. As you go about, you can pick up a number of free booklets detailing up and coming live music events and advertising numerous bars with assorted themes and offers. A bar well worth visiting is Tio Vivo in Calle de Clavel. The décor is quite something including huge nautical chains hanging from the ceiling, old theatrical lights, an ancient cinema projector and even a machine-gun from the Spanish Civil War mounted on the bar. There are mirrors on the ceiling (just in case you were wondering), ultraviolet lighting and plenty of great music.

* plateresque: literally meaning “in the manner of a silversmith” but referring to the richly ornate art style of architecture from the 15th and 16th centuries with typically minutely detailed and intricate relief work.

By Jon Wilson

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