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SALAMANCA...

Every tourist brochure from every city you'd visit in Spain will expound upon that city's importance in the history and art and architecture and the growth of cultural in the country - and Salamanca's tourist literature is no different. Salamanca however, is a personal favorite place for me. When, as a freshman at Penn State, I signed up to take my first semester abroad, Salamanca was the mystery place I was to visit. I loved and lost, ate and drank, learned and thrived in Salamanca in 1982-83, and those days are recorded in letters home and a loosely-kept diary. Today, Salamanca always feels like a home-coming for me. As the Auto Res (the hourly bus service from Madrid's Conde de Casals Plaza to Salamanca) pulls out of Santa Marta (what used to be the little pueblo across the Tormes River from the great golden city) and approaches Salamanca - all the travelers can glance across that river to gaze upon the great towers of the Old and New Cathedrals. The two cathedrals, built one on top of and inside of the other, hover over the city like gentle giants and the view from across that river is at once postcard material.

Salamanca, like many western Spanish cities was along the Roman route called the Via de la Plata (the Silver Route). We know this from the Roman Bridge which spans the Tormes River at the center of the town's entrance. Although Salamanca's Arabic influences have disappeared, if there were any, it is the later Spanish history which is concentrated in Salamanca. After Hannibal, then the Romans, the next time we really hear about Salamantino history is with the gang wars of the 14th and 15th centuries. After that we read that the Duke of Wellington, based in Salamanca, help Spain fight Napoleon during the War of Independence in 1812. Most of Salamanca's history is the scholarly and poetic, the waves of learned and ignorant who came to and from Salamanca to form its chronicles of lives past.

My father calls Salamanca the city of the golden stone, and he is quite correct. Much of the city's older buildings, including the great University and much of the old town, were constructed with the golden sandstone of the region. The great Spanish poet and writer, Miguel de Unamuno wrote:

Salamanca, a provincial capital of some 250,000 people (not including the thousands of transient students who attend the university) reigns over the fierce heart of Castilla y Leon. The people are described as hard working and serious. The food is described as "lusty" and hearty. The rest of Spain will tell you that the winters in Castilla y Leon and the winds that pounds those plains are what make the Salamantinos (or "charros", the region being called the Charreria or 'peasant lands') a rough and tumble bunch. Others will explain that the bravest bullfighting bulls from the Salamancan plains and the agricultural bounty of the grain fields (a major export for the region are garbanzo beans) make the Castillians a broad-shouldered, more sedate Spaniard. I however, found the Salamancans to be like most other Spaniards with a ready sense of humor, a full and complete sense of self, and a lust for life. The foods of this region are, in fact, fit for cold, nasty winters. Although the summers in Salamanca are heineously sweltering, there is nothing like a well-made Salamancan cocido (garbanzo bean stew) when the winds of November bite at your fingertips in the streets.

For centuries the Universidad de Salamanca was the greatest center of learning in all of Europe and scholars throughout the fifteen, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries came from everywhere to learn from the masters. Even as late as the early twentieth century was Salamanca renown for its scholarly pursuits. Unfortunately today, with the affection that the city held for Franco (francoism tended to be "anti"intellectual), and the result of the great decline in academic growth during his dictatorship, the university rests more on past laurels than present achievements. This is not to say that a Spaniard will not carry a well earned degree once he graduates from the Universidad de Salamanca, but it will not weigh the same as a degree from Sorbonne, Oxford, or Bologna as it once did.

There were great masters here as well. Miguel de Unamuno was a student here as was Miguel de Cervantes (Don Quixote, he wrote in Salamanca in the thirteenth century). One of the best stories told surrounding University personalities is of the great Fray Luis de Leon who was a forward-thinking and renaissance scholar of the late sixteenth century. The Inquisition in Spain (much nastier and longer lasting that in other catholic countries) was still underway when de Leon was teaching. For his mysticism and his translations of the Biblical Song of Songs, rival professors turned him in to the Inquisition. Thankfully, they did not flay him, but rather imprisoned him for four years. The day he was released from prison, he returned to his classroom, on schedule, and to the group of students seated at their benches he said, "As we were saying yesterday, gentlemen...." and it is said he continued his lecture on the very thought he'd be on when wrenched from that very classroom years earlier.

The architectural style in Salamanca is quite unique to the city and is called both Churrigueresque (named for the Churriguera family of architects of the 18th c.) and Plateresque (named after silver or silversmith). The Churriguera brothers designed highly baroque (one guidebook calls it "curling iron design") and the plateresque was symbolic of the ornate silverwork done here during the Renaissance - and involved finely ornate carving. The University and other religious buildings all over old town Salamanca are covered with this finely ornate decoration and carvings, particularly in the door vaults. One of the doors that is worth an extra visit is the old University door off the Plaza of Fray Luis de Leon. It is said that the student who can find the frog in the detailed carvings will pass his/her exams. The small carved frog, found sitting on a skull on one of the right hand columns is now a postcard in every schlock shop on the Rua Mayor (the main street leading to the university) - this is why I have no problem telling you where to find it if you are ever there! When I was here in school in the early 80s, the location of the frog was still a well kept secret. We had to find it ourselves, and our friends would NOT divulge the secret. I was sort of disappointed two months ago to watch a British tour-guide pointing out the location with her laser red point, I wondered whether today's students still bothered.

Interestingly, you will note, if you walk around the old town and the two cathedrals, that there are red symbols and letters, almost like graffiti, painted on the outside walls of the buildings. Curious to know what this was, we asked around and no one could tell us. I finally read about them months later in a guidebook. Apparently, from the fourteenth century on, the tradition was for the students to spend the night before their final exams praying to pass their exams with their feet pressed up against those of the statue of the "learned" Bishop Lucero (to get the knowledge passed through the feet I suppose). Those who passed received the "vitor" grade would then go out to the bullfights afterwards to celebrate. After the corridas, they would paint their names and a "V" on the buildings with the blood of the bulls killed in the corridas that day... it is astounding how many of these names remain visible to this day (the practice is not continued as far as I know!).

The stories in Salamanca's history are varied and rich. They involve the men and women of this city's history in a range of tales. One of my favorite Salamancan holidays is called "Lunes de Aguas" (or Monday of Waters) and involves a typical Spanish tale of yore. Although there are lots of different stories for this holiday - the one that sticks is that, during a certain century - the church decided that it was wrong for the prostitutes in town to stay town during the high holy holidays surrounding Easter. That being said, the women were herded across the Tormes river and not permitted to return until the first Monday after the first Sunday after Easter Sunday... and to this day, everyone in Salamanca closes shop on the Monday after the Sunday after Easter and takes their family and friends out to the countryside where they picnic on chorizo and hornazo (a baked meat, cheese, and hardboiled egg empanada) and drink plenty of wine - and ostensibly greet the spring.

The guidebooks will detail what is worth seeing in Salamanca and there is a lot. Even some of the lesser obvious churches are worth a visit if not at least a walk by their facades for a picture or two of their doorways and towers. The Clerecia, The New and Old Catedrales, Torre del Gallo, The Plaza de Las Escuelas (where Fray Luis de Leon's statue is), The Convento de San Esteban (St. Stephan), Convento de Las Duenas, and the Palacio de Fonseca. Finally, in the center it is worth visiting the Casa de las Conchas (the House of the Conch Shells). A lovely corner building across the street from the Clerecia, this golden sandstone edifice is covered with large relief shells. Built in the 16th century by a member of Fernando and Isabel's court, a Dr. Maldonado (also a Knight of St. James - Santiago) covered his house with lines of scallop shells and even the windows are covered by beautiful ornate iron grill work which include scallop shells in their design. This building has a lovely internal patio that can also be seen daily since the house is now a public building housing a library and cultural center. When I first came to Salamanca I was told that not all of the shells on the outside walls had survived because at some point in the eighteenth century a rumor began claiming that ducats and jewels from the Maldonado fortune had been hidden under each of the shells. Once pirates and other golddiggers had started to chip them away and found nothing, they apparently left the rest of the shells alone.

But enough about the little stories of my beloved Salamanca. By the time you had read this page and do your guidebooking, you are thinking, but what's the life like, the people, the good places to eat! Oh, a really comprehensive collection would take weeks to write, a book to publish, and days to read through. So let's just do some real stand outs. To begin with, Salamanca has the most beautiful Plaza Mayor in Spain. Even people from other Spanish cities with their own plaza mayores will tell you that Salamanca's is a jewel. Like the other great buildings in Salamanca, the Plaza Mayor is built of the same Villamayor sandstone. Apparently soft and easy to carve and handle when it is fresh and wet, this sandstone hardens better than cement and hardens to beautiful golden sometimes rosy hues. One guidebook calls the Plaza Mayor Salamanca's "public stage, its focal point and general meeting place, and in the evening the whole city relaxes in the numerous cafes spilling out of its shady arcades, on occasion entertained by Las Tunas, the bands of stundent minstrels in Renaissance costume.(Cadogan)"

Every afternoon after comida (4pm) you can sit in the plaza and watch the students hurry through to class, and every evening during merienda (7pm-ish) you can sit in the same outside cafes under the awnings and watch the families circulate around the plaza. One must understand that in Spain, the lives of the people revolve around the meals and meal times. The main meal of the day is the "comida" eaten between 2-3pm, and the evening meal is called "cena" and eaten between 10-11pm. Before both of those meals, which are eaten in the comfort and privacy of ones home, there is an hour or so of "tapas".

Because Salamanca is a student town, and because they have retained traditions, it is a key location in Spain for Tapa-eating or "Tapeando". Enter any bar in town at 1:00pm and ask for a caña (a small glass of beer) or a glass of wine and you will have the opportunity to choose a tapa. This little appetizer comes free of charge with your drink. It may be a little pork meat (lomo) sandwich, or a 'pincho moruno' (a lovely little kabob), or a couple of pork ribs, a chunk of spanish tortilla (potato omelet), a stuffed mussel, a couple of calamari rings, a few slices of salty cured Iberico ham.... etc. The list of tapas is endless and the variety incredible. The biggest shocker however, is the price. For 500pts ($3.60) at one of our favorite tapas bars in the Van Dyke neighborhood, we get three beers (or wines) and three tapas of ribs (two ribs per order). Anywhere else we've been in Spain we have to pay for the tapa - and in many cities it's a racion (or a half-racion which is still enormous, and costly). In Salamanca you can eat cheaply and phenomenally for next to nothing... ah, the life of a student.

The following are many of the places we've had contact with for food or tapas, lodging, or other things. If you are ever in Salamanca, these are good places to known about:

Need a place to stay? The staff at the Hostal Italia is warm, friendly, and Andres speaks English. The rooms are lovely, spacious (especially for a Spanish Hostal) and the location cannot be beat!

Ok, before you do anything, get to the tourist office in the Plaza Mayor and figure out where to go next...

There are literally hundreds of great tapas bars in Salamanca. I'm sorry I don't have a formal address for these - most are found by stopping someone in the street and asking where they are - I can get you close!

** I promise more to come after we are in Salamanca next and I can get the names and addresses down

Need a travel agent to rent a car or get a good package somewhere, or a hotel reservation - avoid the big boys and contact our friend Chus (Maria Jesus):

Every time I am in Salamanca, I visit the Bodegas Dueñas where my friend, Paco, works. These folks sell mostly to the bars and markets in the city, but they do a small business with the public. They have the best wines at the best prices - and I usually get either a case, or 6-8 bottles. They can tell you which are the best Ribera del Dueros and the best Riojas - the best years, and the best vineyards. They themselves produce a very nice table wine, and a series of other jug wines.

Copyright © 1998 by Rachel Peterson

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