salamanca

The city's name is linked to Greek historians who called it Helmantike, Hermandica and Salamantica It is situated in the South-west corner of Castile & Leon on the borders with extremadura and Portugal. The origins of this UNESCO World Heritage City hark back to Celtic times. This is a dynamic, welcoming city, where old and new, culture and work blend together seamlessly, allowing visitors and residents alike to enjoy the city fully.

A stroll through the streets of Salamanca lets one discover monuments, museums and buildings steeped in history and wisdom. The Plaza Mayor is one of Salamanca's jewels and one of the most important main squares in Spain; Writer James Michener rated it one of the three greatest plazas in the world. The Arcaded contains numerous medallions, such as Friar Luis de Leon and Unamuno, and others representing writers and professors of the University of Salamanca. Ambling through the eighty or so arches around the square, you discover the City Hall which is designed in the same style. Splendour the Casa de las Conchas (House of Shells); decorated with more than 300 pilgrim shells. Be engulfed by the major Renaissance palaces, such as palaces of Salina, Orellana and Anaya. Enjoy the Clerecia or monastery; a Baroque construction that now houses the Pontifical University. Museo de Salamanca, an old Gothic-Renaissance house belonging to the Alvarez Abarcas. ".Museo de Historia de la Ciudad found in the town's former Episcopalian Palace.Museo de Art Deco y Art Nouveauis ; displaying more than 1,600 pieces, dating from the 19th to 20th centuries.Casa-Museo Unamuno ;house-museum Miguel de Unamuno, dating from the 18th century.Museo Taurino shows everything about the animal, bullfighting and the context. Bullfighter's suits, photographs, red capes, swords, banderillas and capes emulate the chronicle of a bullfight in a big bullring.

The University of Salamanca is one of the oldest such institutions in Spain and of major importance, even today it can claim to be one of Europe's most renowned universities. The creation of the so-called Estudio Salmantino (literally Salamanca Study), which was subsequently converted into the university by Alfonso X, was to prove the decisive event in Salamanca's emergence as a universally acknowledged city of culture. After this creation, four large colleges were built, such as the Colegio del Arzobispo Fonseca, and 28 smaller ones were also created.

Situated in the same Plaza de Anaya is the Cathedral of Salamanca, it is two temples joined together. Firstly, there is the Old Cathedral the Old Cathedral which attracts the eye of the visitor due to the beautiful tombs of the bishops' and members of the nobility. Adjoined by the New Cathedral from the 16th century, it houses the image of the Virgin of the Assumption and has remarkable choir-stalls. The ground plan of the Old Cathedral was altered when the New Cathedral was adjoined. Salamanca also boasts important churches and convents dating back to the period when all the professors at the University were monks. The Chapel of Santa Barbara is where prospective Doctors of Philosophy would keep vigil the night before their final exam: if they passed they would ring the bells, whilst failure meant exit via the Carros door.

Lying on Spain's Northern Plateau (meseta), there is a great diversity of plant life, with holm oaks on the eroded flat lands, bushes and thicket in the foothills, and sizeable swathes of forest up in the mountains (sierra). Also to be found here is the Natural Park of Las Batuecas containing the valuable cave paintings from the Neolithic era. Follow the trails on foot which takes you to the Cascada del Chorro (waterfall) enjoy the scenic beauty and hear the legends of Las Batuecas. Cave shelters listed in the Valle de las Batuecas include Canchal de las Cabras pintadas,Canchal del Aguila, Canchales de la Pizarra, Canchales del Zarzalon and Cueva del Cristo. These cave shelters have been declared Assets of Cultural Interest

To even begin to apreciate Salamancas beauty we must look to the words of another; Unamuno "...plateresco rosal de otono, con su encendida amarillez en la tarde del Renacimiento de la hojas..." ("plateresque autumnal rosebush, with its yellow light, illuminated in the evening Renaissance of the leaves).

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