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.
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| Daniel Food and Wine Tours: A Street in Salamanca |
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| 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.
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| Daniel Food and Wine Tours: The Salamanca Cathedral |
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| 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.
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| Daniel Food and Wine Tours: A Street by the Salamanca Cathedral |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Daniel Food and Wine Tours: Casa de Las Conchas, Salamanca, Spain |
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| 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.
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| Daniel Food and Wine Tours: One of the Entrances of the Cathedral |
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| 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.
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| 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.
