Salamanca, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, and known as “The Golden City” is located in the autonomous community of Castilla y León.
A lot of its vitality and essence lies in the number of students who live here and come to pursue their university studies It should be noted that the oldest university in Spain, founded in 1218, is located here.
Throughout its history, great personalities have passed through it, such as Miguel de Unamuno, friar Luis de León, Fernando de Rojas, among others.
It is undoubtedly a monumental city full of history and culture.
My name is Cristina and as a student of Travel Agency and Event Management, and with the great opportunity of being able to be doing internships at the Convention and Exhibition Center of Salamanca, I have been lucky enough to be able to participate as a tourist in guided tours, and to have access to the most transcendental cultural places in the city, but…, you will also come with me through reading!
My tour of Salamanca begins by learning about the history of the “Paseo de las Órdenes Militares“, with the idea of discovering its historical and urban evolution with an itinerary that makes me go through the Plaza Mayor, which, without a doubt, is the great symbol of the city, and was designed by Alberto Churriguera with a baroque style. Its decoration includes medallions with the faces of historical figures
Although it seems square, it is not, and as Miguel de Unamuno said: “It is an irregular quadrilateral, but amazingly harmonious”.
It has 88 arches and on the façade of the Town Hall there are four sculptures that are allegories of agriculture, commerce, industry and geography, and three bells on top. Its architecture is quite complex and deserves a much more detailed description, but these are some details that caught my attention.
Forinstance, it is full of terraces and restaurants, so it almost always has a great atmosphere. This means that eating, dining or just having a drink is a good option to admire the square. The light reflected on it is magical at any time of the day… especially during sunset, my favorite moment.
We continue walking towards the Church of San Julian, a bit hidden and mainly Romanesque. A few minutes away is the Church of Sancti Spiritus (after climbing a huge hill that tests your fitness haha!). It has a Gothic structure with plateresque decoration Inside we could see the choir and the chapel with a Mudejar coffered ceiling from the 15th and 16th centuries, the Cristo de los Milagros, and the main altarpiece. Still inside, we took the opportunity to snap a photo for the social networks of the Salamanca Tourist Office.
Iglesia de San Julian
Church of Santi Spiritus
Cristo de los Milagros de la Iglesia Sancti Spiritus
High Altarpiece of the Church of Sancti Spiritus
We continue to the Church of San Cristóbalobserving it only from the outside.
In the explanation of its history, I was surprised by two curious facts about this beautiful Romanesque church. Opposite to the church is the statue of San Cristóbal, the patron saint of carriers, whose legend tells of the magnificent deed he did in transporting Christ from one side of the river to the other.
At the edge of it are temples where people were buried in the past. If you walk past them it looks like they are just stones, but they hide much more than that…
We pass the beautiful Torre del Clavero, a military fortress from the 15th century, we go through narrow streets and arrive at the Church of Santo Tomás Canturiense, Romanesque from the 12th century, also seen from the outside, and we finish in front of the Colegio de Calatrava, the seat of the Casa de la Iglesia.
Colegio de Calatrava
Torre del Clavero
Iglesia de Santo Tomás Cantuariense
