Salamanca - España

Founded during the pre-Roman era by a Celtic tribe known as the Baxeos The Castilian city of Salamanca is the capital city of the province of the same name It is appropriately called the Spanish City of Gold The sandstone city of Salamanca is like ancient treasure filled with cultural jewels The beautiful Baroque Plaza Mayor is the historical center of the city Built just 250 years ago it was designed by Alberto de Churriguera an important architect of Spanish Baroque The beauty of its rational construction is reflected in the balance of its proportions In the harmonious repetition of its structural elements and the symmetry of its decoration The Plaza Mayor represents the aesthetic culmination of the main squares of Castile mainly in the Baroque style His design was also strongly influenced by the herreriano or the Spanish Renaissance Each of the alcoves along the arches surrounding the square has a medallion with a portrait These commemorative elements also serve an educational purpose to glorify the monarchy Bring to life Spanish history and celebrate the city's heroes and illustrious figures The square was funded by the city in honor of King Philip V's visit The small streets of Salamanca are full of history and life adding to the city's charm The north facade of the New Cathedral dominates the Plaza de Anaya At the beginning of the 15th century it was decided that Salamanca needed a larger and more magnificent cathedral Originally built in the Gothic style In the final appearance of the cathedral other styles such as the Renaissance were finally incorporated This reflects the very long period of more than 200 years during which it was built Immediately adjacent to the southern area of the New Cathedral It is the old Romanesque Cathedral of Santa Maria de la Sede It is introduced into the south nave of the New Cathedral The Old Cathedral one of the most splendid Spanish buildings of this period It began in the 1100s and was probably completed before the 1200s The square located between the two cathedrals is known as the Patio Chico The exterior of the cathedral is highly decorated with Hispano-Flemish motifs used commonly during the time of the Catholic Monarchs Shields floral motifs and low reliefs depicting the life of Christ The plateresque decoration deals with themes of everyday life with irony and humor El plateresque is a highly widespread architectural style in Spain as much as its colonies in the New World during the late 15th and 16th centuries The name which comes from a comparison to the intricate work of silversmiths It became generally applied from the end of the Gothic architecture At the beginning of the Spanish Renaissance It is characterized by meticulous relief ornamentation Drawing from Moorish Gothic and Italian Renaissance styles applied with little interest in structure The main facade facing Cardenal Pla and Daniel stree It is a striking Gothic-style building that showcases a mix of decorations Two different reliefs that decorate the tympanum A scene from the Nativity and the adoration of the Magi A third relief shows Christ on the cross In the typical spirit of Spanish decoration the structure received little attention While the doors and other details were decorated with clusters of ornaments that contrast with the bare wall As they entered the new cathedral of Salamanca One is immediately impressed by the structure of its vault The delicacy of the cornices and elevated pillars The interior decoration of the cathedral is luxurious and elegant The choir and the retrochoir or antechoir the wall that encloses the choir Located in the main nave it is from the early 18th century designed by the architect Alberto Churriguera The interior dimensions of the cathedral are impressive 104 meters long by 48 meters wide They create a sense of spaciousness The eight windows give a lantern effect It is the painted tympanum depicting scenes from the life of the Virgin from the 18th century The dome above the main altar is painted with gold and rich vibrant colors a work by Juan de Montejo The ornate style organ was built in 1568 by Luis Damián While the Churriguera organs date back to 1745 The construction of the new cathedral reflects the evolution of urban development ideas Its grandeur shows the power of the church Both for its ideological enemies and even more for its own believers The altarpiece of the old cathedral's main altar It houses one of the most important paintings in Salamanca dating from 1445 It is the work of Nicolás Florentino composed of 54 painted tablets that tell the story of the Virgin and of Christ And it is crowned by a depiction of the Last Judgment The 16th-century Gothic convent of San Esteban is one of the most important buildings in the city Its impressive gilded facade is a stone altarpiece divided into groups and rows The upper section of the church has a Porcellini Calvary scene The houses in the second section feature a stone figure of the Martyrdom of Saint Stephen Created in 1610 by Juan Antonio Ceroni The missions of the Dominican Order reached the height of their power in the sixteenth century Even before the end of the Middle Ages The Portuguese Dominicans had surrounded the Cape of Good Hope with explorers Establishing missions in Africa Goa Ceylon Siam and Malaga The archbishop Diego de Desa was a patron of the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus from the Spanish court And later he declared that the Spanish sovereigns owed the discoveries of Columbus to the Indians Following the traditional monastic architecture The square cloister at the southern end of the main church has two floors The function of the first floor is like a screen With arched windows divided into four small arches by slender square columns The inner courtyard of the cloister features a splendid combination of Gothic and Renaissance styles both known as the Kings of the Cloister and the Cloister of the Processions They are characterized by the beautiful vaulted ceiling The first floor is characterized by its round arches medallions and star vault while the second floor features gothic elements that lead to the arches with decorative motives that are fully Renaissance The mid-16th century lodge leads to the Kings or the Kings of the Cloister inspired by Italian design The monastery's church designed by Juan de Álava in the shape of a Latin cross It began in 1524 It has a large nave with side chapels inside its buttresses His 1693 golden main altar is one of the greatest works of the sculptor José de Churriguera While the three side altars were designed by their students To the left of the main altar is the tomb of the Duke of Alba Governor of the Spanish Netherlands His square lantern features large windows attributed to Juan de Rivero Rada The martyrdom of Saint Stephen is a work by the Spanish Baroque painter Claudio Coelho The west wall above the choir is adorned with a large fresco by Antonio Palomino The Triumph of the Church from 1705 The University of Salamanca built by order of Pope Benedict XIII in early 1411 It was designed in the Gothic style Its main facade was built in 1529 between two buttresses It is the archetype of the style known as Plateresque from Salamanca Five vertical lines of decorative stone rise through three horizontal rows The House of Shells was built in 1514 It is a fine example of the secular Gothic style with strong influences from Italian civil architecture The coat of arms of Maldonado appears on the walls and around the windows of the Talavera Maldonado Urban Palace A knight of the Order of Santiago Maldonado had the front of his house beautifully decorated with 300 shells a symbol of Saint James This sculptural decoration creates changes in the light and shadow patterns according to the position of the sun The window grilles are well made In the center of the building's interior we find the traditional Spanish courtyard with a double-covered balcony The courtyard of the house is where the noble receives his guests His style indicates the coexistence of various artistic influences in Spain At the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century For example the arches on the ground floor are made with Renaissance marble columns from Carrara Gothic tracery and Moorish-inspired decoration Today the Casa de las Conchas is the public library of Salamanca With 180 000 inhabitants the city is large enough to offer the advantages of a real city However it retains the intimacy of a town It is believed that the residents of Salamanca speak the purest Spanish in Spain Castilian That is why Salamanca is a very popular destination for people from all over the world who want to learn Spanish Living in a true country of architectural wonders The Salamanquinos along with tourists and students They are displayed daily in their collection of romantic chapels plateresque façades and baroque squares Although the nights in Salamanca are a frenzy of music and dancing of drinking and socializing Salamanca is quiet and charming during the day with an atmosphere that fits its cobbled streets and old buildings ose that have not been affected by the passage of time At night the cathedrals can be seen throughout the city Christianity made its first appearance in Salamanca with the decline of the Roman Empire and the arrival of the Visigoths at some point before 600 AD However the massive invasion of Muslims into Spain in the 8th century The Visigothic power ended quickly The Muslim empire ruled over Salamanca and its surroundings for several hundred years Soon however Salamanca once again aroused the interest of the Christian powers They kept winning and losing and regaining the city over and over again The ancient city of Salamanca has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988