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DISCOVER SALAMANCA

Salamanca (population 160,000) is a city in western Spain, the capital of the province of Salamanca, which belongs to the autonomous community (region) of Castile-Leon (Castilla y Leon).

Plaza mayor de Salamanca, Spain. Photo by Julien Navarro

The city was founded in the pre-Roman period by Vacceos, an indigenous tribe, as one of a pair of forts to defend their territory near the Duero river. In the third century BC, Hannibal laid siege to the city. With the fall of the Carthaginians to the Romans, the city began to take more importance as a commercial hub. At this time it was called Helmantica or Salmantica.

The city lies on a plateau by the Tormes river, which is crossed by a bridge 500 ft long built on 26 arches, fifteen of which are of Roman origin, while the remainder date from the 16th century.

A central place in the city, the Plaza Mayor, surrounded by shaded arcades, is known as the living room of the Salmantinos (Salamancans). It was constructed by Andres Garcia de Quifiones at the beginning of the 18th century; it would hold 20,000 people, once to witness bullfights, today to attend a concert, and is one of the finest squares in Europe.

Salamanca is considered to be one of the most spectacular Renaissance cities in Europe. Through the centuries the sandstone buildings have gained an exquisite golden glow that has given Salamanca the nickname La Ciudad Dorada, the golden city.

The old Romanesque cathedral was founded in the 12th century. The dome that covers its crossing springs from a double arcade that is daringly pierced with windows, a distant reflection of Hagia Sophia. The mass of four pinnacles at the outside corners counter the thrust of the dome's weight. The thrust of the vaulting is borne by four massive pinnacles.

The vault of the apse was frescoed by the Early Renaissance painter Nicolas Florentino. The adjoining "new" cathedral was built in stages from 1509 and combines Late Gothic architecture, particularly in the interior, with the Renaissance style called Plateresque. It was still being finished in 1734. In the treasury is the bronze crucifix that was carried into battle before El Cid.

In 1218, Alfonso IX of Leon founded the first Christian university in Iberia here, the university. Under the patronage of the learned Alfonso X, its wealth and reputation greatly increased (1252-1282), and its schools of canon law and civil law attracted students even from the Universities of Paris and Bologna. At the height of the university, in the 16th century, one in five of Salamanca's residents was a student, and the city's fortunes depended on those of the university.

About the time Christopher Columbus was lecturing there on his discoveries, Hernan Cortes took classes at Salamanca, but returned home in 1501 at age 17, without completing his course of study, looking for something to do. (About ten years later the conquistador Francisco Vazquez de Coronado was born in the city.) It was scholars of the University, heavilly influenced by the Paris-based Scottish philosopher John Mair, who established in Spanish law (at the Council of Burgos, 1512) the right to life and liberty of the indigenous peoples of America - perhaps the first ever international statement of human rights.

Miguel de Unamuno was a student here as was Miguel de Cervantes. Ignatius Loyola, while studying at Salamanca in 1527, was brought before an ecclesiastical commission on a charge of sympathy with the alumbrados, but escaped with an admonition. In the next generation St John of the Cross studied at Salamanca and so did the poet and writer Mateo Aleman.

The Augustinian monastery contains the tomb of the count and countess de Monterrey, by Alessandro Algardi.

In the Peninsular War of the Napoleonic campaigns, the Battle of Salamanca, fought July 22, 1812, was a serious setback for the French, and a mighty setback for Salamanca, whose western quarter was seriously damaged.

The city is large enough to be able to offer the advantages of a real city, but at the same time it keeps the intimacy of a village. Since 1923, "Los Charros" formally the Union Deportiva Salamanca, have been the Salamanca football team from Salamanca.

In Salamanca, the inhabitants are said to speak the "purest" Spanish of Spain, a reputation it shares with Valladolid. For this reason Salamanca is popular with people all over the world who want to learn Spanish.

Since 1996 Salamanca has been the designated site of the archive of the Spanish Civil War (Archivo General de la Guerra Civil Espanola). This archive was assembled by the Francoist regime, selectively obtained from the administrative departments of various institutions and organizations during the Spanish Civil War as a repressive instrument used against all sort of opposition groups and individuals: republicans of all signs, unionists, Communists, liberals, Freemasons, Basque and Catalan nationalists, etc.

The socialist government moved part of the archive to Barcelona in 2006 despite opposition from the local authorities and popular protests. Salamanca's mayor, Julian Lanzarote (PP), changed the name of the street where the archive is emplaced from "Gibraltar" to "El expolio" (The spoil) in February 2006. In 2002 Salamanca shared with Bruges the title of European Capital of Culture.

The classic dish of the Salamancan Charreria or "peasant lands" is a cocido, a baked casserole of garbanzo beans.

A traditional Salmantinian celebration is the Lunes de Aguas, "Water Monday", the Monday after the Sunday following Easter. Originally this served to celebrate the official allowance of the authorities for the prostitutes to return to the city after the fasten time and Easter celebrations. All the shops close and Salmantinians picnic in the countryside to eat a kind of pie called "hornazo".

From Wikipedia.org, the Free Encyclopedia

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