A Tour Through Salamanca

Discover a city where architecture is history.

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We are in Spain, in Spring, in the city of Salamanca.

It is an ancient city, carved from golden stone. Salamanca was founded by the Romans, but it’s not a city frozen in time — it’s one that has enjoyed continual wealth and grandeur.

Each European century had its fashionable design and these blurred together throughout Salamanca’s old city. Renaissance and Plateresque architecture contrast the Baroque grandeur of the Plaza Mayor. Some parts of the city are from the 13th century, others from the 15th, others yet from the 18th.

And as we wander through the city, we find the ubiquitous golden stone that keeps everything together.

Here in Salamanca, we find Spain’s oldest university. It has a spectacular facade, the city’s first significant showcase of sculpted eyes watching over their faithful subjects. So many buildings in Salamanca have elaborate facades covered in statues and sculptures.

Outside the university, there is a medallion of the Catholic monarchs. Then, Pope Benedict XIII watching down from the summit. On the flanks play out an allegory to vice and virtue — Venus, goddess of love and desire looks across at Hercules, god of strength. Tempting the students from one side is Dionysius, the Greek god of wine and of the madness of ritual ecstasy. The goddess of wisdom protects those on the other side.

Dotted throughout this facade are sculptures revealing the dooming price of failure. One of them has a frog on its head, a local representation of success amid the temptation.

Let’s follow these sculpted guardians into the Gothic buildings that were built during the 15th century. Figurines cover exterior walls, the saints and gods coming from Rome, Greece, and even Ancient Egypt. At Casa de Las Conchas, dolphins stand guard at the entrance while mythical animals peer down on all who visit.

Depictions of Christ and biblical scenes are what cover the New Cathedral — a “new cathedral” built in the 16th century. Saints gaze down, sculpted popes dot the columns, cherubs mingle with kings and there’s even a pauper watching on.

And then we move into the Plaza Mayor, one of Spain’s grandest and largest public squares. It’s here where the figures of Spain’s past always look on. All around the Plaza Mayor, just above eye-level on huge granite pillars, are medallions featuring featuring sculpted kings.

On one side, it is only kings — all the kings of Spain in chronological order. On the other, the heroes from Salamanca’s history — conquistadores, poets, winemakers, and others that have shaped shaped this world heritage centre.

There are still empty spaces, medallions left open for Salamanca’s emerging heroes and heroines. Since the 18th century, there have been heroines here. But half the space has remained vacant — the city’s ultimate honor, waiting to be bestowed on a dozen more Salamanca residents.

This is not a city that stands still.

The golden stone does not change, yet the buildings add new sculpted guardians to their facades. Can you imagine that here in this city, we can explore a cathedral — and search around for an astronaut? An astronaut beside the Pope, beside the cherubs.

Some sculptures are invisible at first, yet everyone in Salamanca knows of their presence. Just like everyone in Salamanca knows of the thousands of sculpted guardians watching them every day.

The legend has it that all those extra pairs of eyes are keeping the city safe, ensuring it continues to prosper into the 21st century.

Salamanca is not well-known even in Spain, and it’s not visited much— especially outside of summer. But it’s a city that can tell 2000 years of Spain’s history — 2000 years of its own history — and still keep you captivated, wanting to know what is tomorrow’s story in this place of golden stone.

Story by Stephen Bailey. Edited by Beatriz Becker.

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