Salamanca – Old City Charm – Gabi's Footprints

Salamanca is a quaint university city located about 200 km to the west of Madrid (about 360 km southwest of Logroño). Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. I visited the city a cold, rainy weekend in mid-February. Despite the unfavorable weather, I had a great time exploring its universities, churches and convents. Even just walking along the Old City’s narrow and maze-like streets was worth the trip.

Rainy View / Vista lluviosa

House of the Shells / Casa de Las Conchas

Typical Streets / Típica Calle

The University of Salamanca, founded in the 12^th century, is the oldest university of Spain. Its 30,000 or so students make up about 13% of the city’s population. Combine that with students from the other universities and high number of tourists and it comes to no surprise that there is a bustling, lively crowd tramping through the Old City streets until the early morning hours every weekend.

Salamanca University

Pontifical University

Library Salamanca Univeristy

Homage from the Autonomous University of Mexico

Cloister / Claustro de la Universidad Pontifica

Staircase Pontifical University /

My favorite part about visiting Salamanca was getting to explore the many historic religious buildings. Salamanca has two cathedrals; the Old Cathedral was built in the 12^th century in the Romanesque style while the New Cathedral was built in the 16^th century in the Gothic style and finished in the 18^th century in the Baroque style. The new cathedral was built adjacent to the old cathedral and the juxtaposition of architecture and art make for an amazing visit. As an added bonus, on the day of my visit there was a mass celebration in the Mozarabic Rite. Getting to attend this service, which dates back to the 7^th century, in the Old Cathedral reminded me of one of my strongest reasons for coming to Spain.