Salamanca - Spain

We landed at Porto Airport, back from Madeira late one evening.  From the airport, the metro takes you right back to the city centre and to our hotel for the night.  Early that morning, we headed back to Spain with a stopover in Salamanca to break the long journey back to Calpe; our home base.  Temperatures were quite low that morning and the sky was grey and uninviting.  Gradually, as we returned to Spain, the sky began to clear.  Temperatures however remained quite low.  After settling in our hotel, we went out and explored the city.  First, the Old Town where all the history of the place can be seen and enjoyed.  Our first impression was of a place of culture, learning and piety.  We weren’t far off the mark as we wandered the streets.

Salamanca is an ancient Celtic city in northwestern Spain.  The city lies on several hills by the Tormes River.  The old part of the city was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988.  In 1998, it was declared a European Capital of Culture for 2002.  The city of Salamanca was registered as “Historic Site” in 1951.

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: A Street in Salamanca

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: Plaza Mayor, Salamanca, Spain

Salamanca is situated approximately 200 kilometres west of Madrid and only 80km east of the Portuguese border.  The remarkable examples of its unique past include the Old Cathedral from the 12th century, the Salina and the Monterrey Palaces from the 16th century and above all the Plaza Mayor.  The city also boasts many colleges, which were generally charitable institutions with close ties to the University.

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: The Salamanca Cathedral

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: Salamanca Cathedral

 

The University of Salamanca, which was founded in 1218, is the oldest university in Spain and the fourth oldest western university supplying 16% of Spain's market for the teaching of the Spanish language.  The institution that proclaimed itself “Mother of Virtues, Sciences, and the Arts” makes Salamanca an exceptional example of an old university town in the Christian world, such as Oxford and Cambridge.  With its 30,000 students, the university is, together with tourism, a primary source of income in the city.

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: A Street by the Salamanca Cathedral

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: Plaza Mayor at Night

As a place in continuous evolution, the Old City has been affected by modern urban infrastructure, and building renovation.  These changes have been under strict administrative controls in order not to affect the Universal Value of the historic city.

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: Walking in the old part of Salamanca

This ancient university town was first conquered by the Carthaginians in the 3rd century B.C.  With the fall of the city to the Romans, Helmantica, as it was known, began to take more importance as a commercial hub in the Roman Hispania.  Its Roman Bridge spanning the River Tormes southwest of the city dates from the 1st century.  With the fall of the Roman Empire, the city was conquered by the Visigoths.

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: Salamanca Architecture

Salamanca surrendered to the Moors in the year 712 AD.  For years, the region became the main battlefield between the Christian kingdoms and the Muslim rulers.  This constant fighting gravely depopulated Salamanca and reduced it to an unimportant settlement. After the Battle of Salamanca in 939, the Christians resettled this area.

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: Another view of the Cathedral

One of the most important moments in Salamanca's history was the year 1218, when Salamanca became one of the most significant and prestigious academic centres in Europe.  During the 16th century, the city reached its height of splendour hosting the most important intellectuals of the time.

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: Statue in a Salamanca Park

Salamanca suffered the general downturns of the Kingdom of Castile during the 17th century but in the 18th century it experienced a rebirth.  During that period, the new Cathedral and main square Plaza Mayor were completed.

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: The Cathedral, Salamanca, Spain

In the Peninsula War of the Napoleonic campaigns, the Battle of Salamanca, fought in July 1812, was a serious setback for the French, and an even bigger one for Salamanca.  The battle was a defining moment in military history with many thousands of men slaughtered by cannon fire in the space of only a few short hours.

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: Casa de Las Conchas, Salamanca, Spain



Daniel Food and Wine Tours: Casa de Las Conchas, Salamanca, Spain

During the devastating Spanish Civil War (1936–39) the city quickly went over to the Nationalist side and was used as the de facto capital and centre of power during the entire civil war.  Like much of the fervently Catholic and largely rural regions, Salamanca was a staunch supporter of the Nationalist side and Franco’s regime for its long duration.  Since 1996, Salamanca has been the designated site of the archives of the Spanish Civil War.

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: One of the Entrances of the Cathedral

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: A street in Salamanca

Tourism is probably the most outstanding industry of the city, thanks to its historical heritage and to the charm of the city itself.  It is also in Salamanca, where the purest Spanish is spoken, which makes the city a popular destination for students wanting to learn Spanish.

Daniel Food and Wine Tours: A Street in the old part of Salamanca, Spain

In its gastronomy pork meat is the star, the cured hams from acorn-fed pigs produced in Guijuelo, a village in the Southern part of Salamanca, are among some of the most famous Spanish delicacies.  It would have taken a great deal more time to discover the many beautiful and historical sites of Salamanca and the few hours we allocated to this city only gave us a brief idea of what a remarquable place Salamanca is.  The weather was unfortunately against us.  The rather bitter cold temperatures and strong wind gusts that greeted us on that late November afternoon made it quite uncomfortable to walk around and enjoy the treasures that the city offers.  I will return there during a warmer month of the year now that I have seen what a jewel Salamanca is.