GOODBYE SALAMANCA

SALAMANCA IN THE MORNING - JANUARY 2006

Next morning, while Di was at school, I made a short stroll around town just before picking her and her Australian friends to a weekend in Lisbon!


"Located alongside the Villena Tower, this is the local where according to the legend the Devil had its courses! Supposedly, the Marques de Villena, who was the sacristan of San Cyprian Church during the 14th century, was involved here in occult sciences. The legend, helped by several writers including Cervantes and Quevedo travelled to Latin America where some peoples name salamancas the dens where demons and witches perform their practices. Amazingly, the anonymous Recueil des Histoires de Troyes, published in 1464, credits Heracles with the foundation of an academy for Magic and Witchcraft. Seven years, seven students. Hogwarts School at the Cueva de Salamanca!"


"NEW CATHEDRAL - In the mist, from the top of the tower at the Cueva"


"SAN ESTEBAN Convent as seen from the Tower at the Cueva. This is a Dominican convent built from 1524 through 1610. The portal, conceived as a retablo, is one of the most beautiful plateresque examples in Spain"


"PATIO CHICO is a beautiful place where the old cathedral joins the new, and the Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque styles mix. From there we may see the famous Torre del Gallo"



"CASA LYS - The Casa Lis houses the collections of the Museum of Art Nouveau and Art Déco. The building, commissioned by Miguel de Lys at the beginning of the 20th century, is also the administrative headquarter of the Manuel Ramos Andrade Foundation, an antiques dealer from Salamanca, whose collection is shown in the museum"



"HOUSE and TOWER"


"FONSECA PALACE"




"LAS DUEÑAS - The Convent of los Duenas is known for its beautiful cloister and tranquil garden. The Dominican convent was founded in the early 15th Century by Juana Rodriguez Maldonado on the site of her own house. It was designed by Juan de Alava and Rodrigo Gil de Hontanon. The two storey Renaissance cloister has amazing carvings on the capitals of demons, skulls and writhing human shapes"

SALAMANCA BY NIGHT

MAGICAL MISTERY TOUR - JANUARY 2006

At night, after a first stroll around the city, we had an early dinner (arrived at 9:30 p.m. at the restaurant and were the first there) and I got back to the Hotel to have some rest. The mist was already invading town!


"CHURCH - Salamanca has many churches, and at night they usually have nice lights on!


"CATHEDRAL PORTAL - The north façade at its best"


"UNIVERSITY - The King of the Plateresque. While the rest of Europe embraced Italian Renaissance, Spain has always demonstrated a flare for the decorative arts, and kept the magnificence of its Gothic and Moorish components. While the Renaissance was essentially a structural architectural movement, the Plateresque style focused on the decorative side. So, extremely stylized façades integrating sculptures, busts, and floral and organic motifs are its most common feature"


"CLERECIA AND A PART OF THE CASA DE LAS CONCHAS"


"ANOTHER CHURCH"


"BLURRED PLAZA MAYOR - These night photos are always a bit blurred, but I have no patience for the tripod! This is how Plaza Mayor looked like before dinner. "



"IN THE MIST - Plaza Mayor is the most famous example of Churrigueresque architecture. Just as the Plateresque style is a branch of the Renaissance, the Churrigueresque style, which lasted from the 1600's until around 1750, comes within the realm of Baroque architecture. The word Churrigueresque comes from the Churriguera family, an architectural dynasty of brothers, descendents and pupils. Almost a Plateresque revival, Churrigueresque is mostly ornamental"




"PATIO DE LOS CASTELLANOS - The inner patio, the only part that remains of the original 15th century building, has been reformed to be the centre of the hotel. It’s an architectonic treasure"

SALAMANCA, OLÉ!

LEARNING SPANISH - JANUARY 2006

Having completed the Erasmus semester in Vallendar, Di had some free time while her colleagues in Lisbon were still passing through the January exams. So she decided to learn some Spanish, and Salamanca was an obvious choice, as in Salamanca the inhabitants - Salmantinos - speak the "purest" Castilian in Spain! And getting there to visit her, was a nice opportunity to re-visit the city, four years later!


"PATIO DE CASTELLANOS - Quite centrally located, adjacent to the Plaza del Concilio de Trento, in the heart of Salamanca's monumental and historic district, my favourite Salamanca hotel merges modern comfort with traditional splendour. The Porsche is there just to be fined..."



"NEW CATHEDRAL - Built between 1513 and 1733, in late Gothic and Baroque styles"


"ANAYA PALACE, ordered by Dom Diego de Anaya e Maldonado in 1401 and located across the New Cathedral, is one of the few Neo-Classical buildings in Salamanca. It housed the Colegio Mayor, the oldest in town"


"OLD CATHEDRAL ALTAR - The construction of the old cathedral began in 1140 and lasted for more than a century to conclude. The altarpiece is an ensemble of 53 panels painted in the XVth century, narrating the life of Jesus and Mary and the Last Judgment fresco"



"CHAPELS - Some of the impressive chapels in the cathedral"


"DOME - The incredible dome springs from a double arcade that is daringly pierced with windows, remembering Hagia Sophia"


"THE ASTRONAUT - Can you spot it?"


"UNIVERSITY, with its Plateresque facade. In 1218, Alfonso IX of León founded the University of Salamanca. Under the patronage of Alfonso X (1252-1282) its schools of canon law and civil law attracted students even from the Universities of Paris and Bologna. In 1254, Pope Alexander IV called the University of Salamanca «one of the four leading lights of the world». Hernán Cortés, Ignatius Loyola, Miguel de Cervantes and Miguel de Unamuno took classes at Salamanca"


"NEW CATHEDRAL TOWER as seen from the University building"


"CANON LAW room entrance"



"THE MINOR SCHOOLS were built in the 1428, and they house a patio of great simplicity. The façade of the building is of plateresque style. The entrance is made up of two arches resting over a column of Corinthian volute. In its superior part, the imperial shield represents the power of the Emperor Charles V"


"PLAZA FREY LUIS DE LEON"


"THE CLERECIA started to be built in the 17th century, but the works were concluded only in the 19th century. Intended to be a College for the Jesuits, it hosts now the Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca"


"THE PLAZA MAYOR is one of the finest squares in Europe, and from my point of view the most beautiful Plaza Mayor in Spain. Its construction was ordered by Felipe V and it is now the central square and the living room of the Salmantinos. The plaza has a capacity of 20,000 people, was originally a venue for bullfights but is currently used primarily for concerts"

POR TIERRAS DE CASTILLA - SALAMANCA

SALAMANCA HOSTED ON OCTOBER 15, 2005, THE IBERO-AMERICAN SUMMIT OF PORTUGUESE AND SPANISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES IN THE IBERIAN PENINSULA AND IN SOUTH AMERICA.
THE EVENT SURELY DESERVED A POST!

SALAMANCA AT SUNSET AND BY NIGHT - MARCH 2002


"PALACIO DE CASTELLANOS - First pamper yourself in a nice hotel"


"SAN ESTEBAN - Then, start an amazing stroll"


"SAN ESTEBAN - CLAUSTRO - Impressive!



"CATHEDRAL - Portal: Sunset"


"UNIVERSITY - Taking students since 1218 (twelve/eighteen, you read correctly). In the XVI century it had seventy Professor's chairs and twelve thousand students!...


"CATHEDRAL - Actually there are two, the old and the new: this is the new, at 10:50 PM"


"CATHEDRAL - As seen from the Hotel room"


"JESUS - Another old church"


"PLAZA MAYOR - The most beautiful Plaza Mayor in Spain"


CALLE ZAMORA- No shopping!"


"ROMAN BRIDGE - Nice place to say goodbye, see you again..."