Salamanca () is a city in western

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the

autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...

Castile and León Castile and León ( es, Castilla y León ; ast-leo, Castiella y Llión ; gl, Castela e León ) is an autonomous community in northwestern Spain. It was created in 1983, eight years after the end of the Francoist regime, by the merging of th ...

. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a

UNESCO World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

in 1988. As of 2018, the municipality has a population of 143,978. It is one of the most important university cities in Spain and supplies 16% of Spain's market for the teaching of the

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a global language with more than 500 million native speakers, mainly in the ...

. Salamanca attracts thousands of international students. The University of Salamanca, founded in 1218, is the oldest university in Spain and the

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hi ...

oldest western university.

Pope Alexander IV Pope Alexander IV (1199 or 1185 – 25 May 1261) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 December 1254 to his death in 1261. Early career He was born as Rinaldo di Jenne in Jenne (now in the Province of Rome), he ...

gave universal validity to its degrees. With 30,000 students, the university is, together with tourism, a primary source of income in Salamanca. It is on the Vía de la Plata path of the

Camino de Santiago The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Sai ...

History

Remains of a house at the archeological site of the Cerro de San Vicente (c. 800–400 BC), a hamlet assigned to the Early Iron Age. The city originates as a Celtiberian fort of the pre-Roman period, built by the

Vaccaei The Vaccaei or Vaccei were a pre-Roman Celtic people of Spain, who inhabited the sedimentary plains of the central Duero valley, in the Meseta Central of northern Hispania (specifically in Castile and León). Their capital was ''Intercatia'' in P ...

or the Vettones as one of a pair of forts to defend their territory near the

Duero The Douro (, , ; es, Duero ; la, Durius) is the highest-flow river of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province, central Spain, meanders south briefly then flows generally west through the north-west part o ...

river. In 220 BC

Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Pu ...

laid siege to the fort and captured it. With the fall of the

Carthaginians The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of the ...

to the Romans, the city of ''Helmantica'', as it was known, began to take more importance as a commercial hub in the Roman

Hispania Lusitania Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province located where modern Portugal (south of the Douro river) and a portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and the province of Salamanca) lie. It was named after the Lusitani or Lu ...

due to its favorable location on a

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

, known as the Vía de la Plata, which connected it with

Emerita Augusta Emerita may refer to: * ''Emerita'' (crustacean), a genus of crustaceans * Emerita Augusta, an ancient city of Spain * Saint Emerita, 3rd-century martyr; see Digna and Emerita * Emerita, the feminine form of the adjective "emeritus ''Emeritus ...

(present day Mérida) to the south and Asturica Augusta (present-day Astorga) to the north. Salamanca's Tormes bridge, built in the 1st century, was a part of this road. The origin of the name is unknown.

Polybius Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail. Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...

calls it ''Helmantike'', while

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

has ''Salmatike''. Titus Livius and

Plutarchus Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his '' ...

have ''Hermandica'' and ''Salmatike'', respectively.

Polyaenus Polyaenus or Polyenus ( ; see ae (æ) vs. e; grc-gre, Πoλύαινoς, Polyainos, "much-praised") was a 2nd-century CE Greek author, known best for his ''Stratagems in War'' ( grc-gre, Στρατηγήματα, Strategemata), which has been pr ...

has ''Salmantida'' or ''Salmatis''. In a foundational myth, the city was associated with Teucer, mythological king of Salamis. With the fall of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

, the

Alans The Alans (Latin: ''Alani'') were an ancient and medieval Iranian nomadic pastoral people of the North Caucasus – generally regarded as part of the Sarmatians, and possibly related to the Massagetae. Modern historians have connected the A ...

established in Lusitania. Later the city was conquered by the

Visigoth The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kn ...

s and included in their territory. The city was already an

episcopal see An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...

, and signatures of bishops of Salamanca are found in the

Councils of Toledo From the 5th century to the 7th century AD, about thirty synods, variously counted, were held at Toledo (''Concilia toletana'') in what would come to be part of Spain. The earliest, directed against Priscillianism, assembled in 400. The "thir ...

. Salamanca surrendered to the Umayyad invasion, led by

Musa bin Nusair Musa ibn Nusayr ( ar, موسى بن نصير ''Mūsá bin Nuṣayr''; 640 – c. 716) served as a Umayyad governor and an Arab general under the Umayyad caliph Al-Walid I. He ruled over the Muslim provinces of North Africa (Ifriqiya), and direc ...

, in 712 AD. The area from this city on the Tormes River north to the Duero River then became the main battlefield between the Christian kingdoms and the Muslim

Al-Andalus Al-Andalus translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label= Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, al-Ándalus () was the M ...

rulers. The constant fighting of the

Kingdom of León The Kingdom of León; es, Reino de León; gl, Reino de León; pt, Reino de Leão; la, Regnum Legionense; mwl, Reino de Lhion was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in 910 when t ...

, later reinforced by union with the

Kingdom of Castile The Kingdom of Castile (; es, Reino de Castilla, la, Regnum Castellae) was a large and powerful state on the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region. It began in the 9th ce ...

, against the

Caliphate A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

depopulated Salamanca and reduced it to an unimportant settlement. After the battle of Simancas (939) the Christians resettled this area. After the 1085 seizure of Toledo by Alfonso VI of León and Castile, the definitive resettlement of the city took place. Raymond of Burgundy, instructed by his father-in-law Alfonso VI of León, led a group of settlers of various origins in 1102. One of the most important moments in Salamanca's history was the year 1218, when Alfonso IX of León granted a royal charter to the University of Salamanca, although formal teaching had existed at least since 1130. Soon it became one of the most significant and prestigious academic centres in Europe. Class at Salamanca

The 15th century was plagued by social conflict and tensions among the urban elites (a complex development, often oversimplified as an infighting between ''bandos''), with occasional outbursts of grave episodes of violence, conveying a chronic feeling of insecurity. The late 15th century population has been tentatively estimated at 15,000–25,000. By the turn of the 16th century most of the population dwelled at the right (north) bank of the Tormes, with a small ''arrabal'' in the south bank inhabited by roughly 300 people. During the 16th century, the city reached its height of splendour (around 6,500 students and a total population of 24,000). During that period, the University of Salamanca hosted the most important intellectuals of the time; these groups of mostly- Dominican scholars were designated the School of Salamanca. The juridical doctrine of the School of Salamanca represented the end of medieval concepts of law, and founded the fundamental body of the ulterior European law and morality concepts, including rights as a corporeal being (right to life), economic rights (right to own property) and spiritual rights (rights to freedom of thought and rights related to intrinsic human dignity). In 1551, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V ordered an inquiry to find out if the science of Andreas Vesalius, physician and anatomist, was in line with Catholic doctrine. Vesalius came to Salamanca that same year to appear before the board and was acquitted. Salamanca suffered the general downturns of the Kingdom of Castile during the 17th century, but in the 18th century it experienced a rebirth. In this period, the new baroque

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

and main square ( Plaza Mayor) were finished. In the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spai ...

theatre of the Napoleonic Wars, the

Battle of Salamanca The Battle of Salamanca (in French and Spanish known as the Battle of Arapiles) on 22July 1812 was a battle in which an Anglo-Portuguese army under the Earl of Wellington defeated Marshal Auguste Marmont's French forces at Arapiles, so ...

took place on 22 July 1812 in the nearby fields of Arapiles, in which an

Anglo-Portuguese Army The Anglo-Portuguese Army was the combined British and Portuguese army that participated in the Peninsular War, under the command of Arthur Wellesley. The Army is also referred to as the British-Portuguese Army and, in Portuguese, as the ''Ex ...

led by

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by ...

decisively defeated the French army of

Marmont Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont (20 July 1774 – 22 March 1852) was a French general and nobleman who rose to the rank of Marshal of the Empire and was awarded the title (french: duc de Raguse). In the Peninsular War Marmont succeede ...

. The western quarter of Salamanca was seriously damaged by cannon fire. The battle which raged that day is famous as a defining moment in military history and thirteen thousand men were killed or wounded in the space of only a few short hours. Slm1858

During the devastating

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

(1936–1939) the city quickly went over to the Nationalist side and was temporarily used as the ''de facto'' headquarters for the rebel faction.

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 193 ...

was proclaimed ''Generalissimo'' on 21 September 1936 while at the city. In April 1937, the

FET y de las JONS The Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FET y de las JONS; ), frequently shortened to just "FET", was the sole legal party of the Francoist regime in Spain. It was created by General Francisco ...

, the single party of the ensuing dictatorship, was created via a

Unification Decree The Unification Decree was a political measure adopted by Francisco Franco in his capacity of Head of State of Nationalist Spain on April 19, 1937. The decree merged two existing political groupings, the Falangists and the Carlists, into a new p ...

issued at the city upon the merging of the fascist Falange and the traditionalist carlists. The Nationalists soon moved most of the administrative premises to

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence o ...

, which, being more central, was better suited for this purpose. However, some administrative apparatus, Franco's headquarters (located at the Palacio Episcopal, next to the Old Cathedral) and the military commands stayed in Salamanca, along with the German and Italian fascist delegations, making it the ''de facto'' Nationalist capital and centre of power during the entire civil war.Hugh Thomas, pág. 550Hugh Thomas, pág. 650 Like much of fervently Catholic and largely rural

Leon Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again f ...

and

Old Castile Old Castile ( es, Castilla la Vieja ) is a historic region of Spain, which had different definitions along the centuries. Its extension was formally defined in the 1833 territorial division of Spain as the sum of the following provinces: Sant ...

regions, Salamanca was a staunch supporter of the Nationalist side and

's regime for its long duration. In 1988, the old city was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 1998, it was declared a European Capital of Culture for year 2002 (shared with Bruges). During 14 and 15 October 2005, it hosted the XV Ibero-American Summits of Heads of State and Governments. Since 1996, Salamanca has been the designated site of the archives of the Spanish Civil War (''Archivo General de la Guerra Civil Española''). The original documents were 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 opposition groups and individuals. The socialist government moved the Catalan part of the archive to Barcelona in 2006 despite opposition from the local authorities and popular protests.

Geography

Location

The city lies on the banks of the Tormes river, a major left-bank tributary of the Douro. It is also part of the Vía de la Plata, an ancient S–N path in Western Spain. It is situated approximately west of the Spanish capital

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

and east of the Spanish-Portuguese border.

Climate

With an altitude of over 800 meters, Salamanca has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (''Csb'') according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

, with some

cold semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi ...

(''BSk'') climatic influences, resulting in large diurnal temperature variations, with hot summers and chilly winters, and nearly-semi-arid levels of precipitation. Salamanca does not have a real wet season. Most of the precipitation falls outside of the summer, with upticks at the end of the spring and during the winter; all winters have snow during few days per year, although heavy snowfalls are uncommon, but not unheard of. The city averages around 7 days of snowy days per year, morning

frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor in an above-freezing atmosphere coming in contact with a solid surface whose temperature is below freezing, and resulting in a phase change from water vapor (a g ...

during winters is very common, as on a normal year, Salamanca has on average 76 days with low temperatures below freezing.

University

The University of Salamanca was founded in 1134 and in 1218 it was given the royal charter of foundation ("Estudio General") by Alfonso IX of León. It was the first university to receive the title of "University" in 1254. Under the patronage of the learned

Alfonso X Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, es, el Sabio; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 30 May 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Ger ...

, its wealth and reputation greatly increased (1252–1282), and its schools of

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is t ...

and civil law attracted students even from the Universities of Paris and Bologna. In the 16th century, the city's fortunes depended on those of the university. About the time

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

was lecturing there on his discoveries,

Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquess of the Valley of Oaxaca (; ; 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of w ...

took classes at Salamanca, but returned home in 1501 at age 17, without completing his course of study. (About ten years later the ''

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...

Francisco Vásquez de Coronado Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name '' Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed " Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father o ...

was born in Salamanca.) 2008-07-07 Universidad de Salamanca.jpg, Plateresque facade of the University of Salamanca 2008-07-08 Detalle del edificio de la Universidad Salamanca.jpg, Detail of facade of the university

Economy

WLM14ES - 03082013 234425 SALAMANCA 0609 -

The city's economy is dominated by the university and tourism, but other sectors including agriculture and livestock rearing along with construction and manufacturing are also significant. Not surprisingly, in December 2007 83% of the working population, equivalent to 55,838, were employed in the service sector.

Industry

Industrial activity accounted for 5% of the working population, or 3,340 workers employed over 360 businesses. Two of the largest businesses, both of them numbered among the largest 100 enterprises in the region, are the veterinary

vaccine A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verified.

manufacturer "Laboratorios Intervet", and the fertilizer specialist manufacturers S.A. Mirat, which is the city's oldest industrial company, having been established originally as a starch factory in 1812.

Transport

Road

''Highways'' *A50: Autovía de la Cultura:

Ávila Ávila (, , ) is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Ávila. It lies on the right bank of the Adaja river. Located more than 1,130 m ab ...

- Salamanca *A62: Autovía de Castilla:

Valladolid Valladolid () is a municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. It has a population around 300,000 peop ...

- Salamanca - Ciudad Rodrigo. *A66: Autovía Ruta de la Plata: Gijón -

Oviedo Oviedo (; ast, Uviéu ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city. Oviedo is located a ...

Mieres Mieres is a municipality of Asturias, northern Spain, with approximately 38,000 inhabitants. The municipality of Mieres is made up of the capital, Mieres del Camino and the villages of Baiña, Figaredo, Cenera, Loredo, La Peña, La Rebollada, ...

Puerto de Pajares The Puerto de Pajares is a mountain pass through the Cantabrian Mountains between the provinces of Asturias and Léon, Spain. The pass has been historically important to Asturias as the lowest elevation direct route between the capital, Oviedo, ...

- León - Benavente - Zamora - Salamanca - Béjar - Plasencia - Mérida - Sevilla. *SA-11: North access to Salamanca. *SA-20: South access to Salamanca. ''Other roads'' *N-501: Ávila -

Peñaranda de Bracamonte Peñaranda de Bracamonte is a village and municipality in the province of Salamanca, western Spain, part of the autonomous community of Castile-Leon. It is located from the provincial capital city of Salamanca and has a population of 6320 people ...

- Salamanca. *N-620: Burgos -

Venta de Baños Venta de Baños is a small town and municipality of about 6,400 inhabitants located in the Cerrato district of the province of Palencia, part of the autonomous community of Castile and León in central Spain. It lies some 10 km south of the ...

- Valladolid - Tordesillas - Salamanca - Ciudad Rodrigo - Portugal.

Airport

Salamanca Airport Salamanca Airport is the airport serving the province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León Castile and León ( es, Castilla y León ; ast-leo, Castiella y Llión ; gl, Castela e León ) is an autonomous community ...

, located in the military base of Matacán, is located about east of the city.

Public transport

There are 13 bus lines during the day and two night lines. Also, a

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...

line has been proposed.

Culture and sports

The Old City of Salamanca was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. In 2002, Salamanca shared the title of European Capital of Culture with

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

. In 2005, Salamanca celebrated the 250th anniversary of the construction of the Plaza Mayor with a number of European events (''Plaza Mayor de Europa'').

Festivals

Holy Week

The Holy Week in Salamanca (''Semana Santa'') is the most well-known feast in the city. Salamanca is renowned for the solemn and sober processions celebrated during Holy Week. 18, 10,000 brothers or "cofrades", 50 floats or " pasos" celebrate the Passion of Christ with 24 processions and thousands of followers, tourist and visitors. Some of the celebrations have been performed for centuries. The confraternities carry artistic pasos created by important Spanish artists such as Luis Salvador Carmona,

Alejandro Carnicero Alejandro Carnicero (Íscar, 1693 - Madrid, 1756) was a Spanish sculptor of the Baroque period. He belongs to the Castilian school, following the style of Gregorio Fernández. His artistic language evolved from the 17th century models to a more ...

or Mariano Benlliure. In 2003 the Semana Santa of Salamanca obtained the official declaration of International Touristic Interest.

Other

Salamanca is also famous throughout Spain and the rest of Europe for its celebrations of " Nochevieja Universitaria", loosely translated as "University New Year". It is usually held on the Thursday of the last week of school in December and two weeks before the real New Year's Eve. On this day, students congregate in the Plaza Mayor, Salamanca to watch free performances and take part in the countdown to midnight.

Sports

Estadio Helmantico - Spain vs China 2005

From 1923 onward, "Los Charros,” formally the Union Deportiva Salamanca, were the Salamanca football team. In 2013, the club went bankrupt and its activities were abandoned. After its dissolution, some managers of the entity decided to refound the farm team to continue competing, maintaining the legacy of the historic club. Thus they created the Club de Fútbol Salmantino. The first

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

over 8 feet (2.44 m) was made in Salamanca, by

Javier Sotomayor Javier Sotomayor Sanabria (; born October 13, 1967) is a Cuban retired track and field athlete, who specialized in the high jump and is the current world record holder. The 1992 Olympic champion, he was the dominant high jumper of the 1990s; hi ...

in 1993. His jump, of 2.45 m (8 feet 0.46 inch), is still the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

in the event.

Local teams

* Salamanca CF,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

team * Unionistas de Salamanca CF, football team * CB Avenida,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team * Club Natación Acuático Salamanca, swimming team

Cinema

The setting provided by the city has been featured in several films, including Ridley Scott's '' 1492: Conquest of Paradise'' and Miloš Forman's ''

Goya's Ghosts ''Goya's Ghosts'' is a 2006 biographical drama film, directed by Miloš Forman (his final directorial feature before his death in 2018), and written by him and Jean-Claude Carrière. The film stars Javier Bardem, Natalie Portman and Stellan Skarsg ...

''. Alejandro Amenábar's 2019 historical film ''

While at War ''While at War'' ( es, Mientras dure la guerra, links=no) is a 2019 Spanish-Argentine historical drama film directed by Alejandro Amenábar. Set in 1936, during the Spanish Civil War, the plot tracks the plight of philosopher and writer Miguel ...

'' is set in Salamanca and features scenes shot there. Salamanca was also the setting for the 2008 political thriller ''

Vantage Point Vantage Point (formerly Archway Tower) is a 195-foot (59m) 17-storey residential apartment building above Archway Underground station, designed by Grid Architects, and owned and operated by Essential Living. History Archway Tower was built ...

'', although the movie was almost exclusively filmed in Mexico.

Gastronomy

Among many local dishes, ' (steamed rice with pork) is very popular. Another distinctive dish is the ''cocido'', a slow-cooked

chickpea The chickpea or chick pea (''Cicer arietinum'') is an annual legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. Its different types are variously known as gram" or Bengal gram, garbanzo or garbanzo bean, or Egyptian pea. Chickpea seeds are h ...

-based casserole. However, '' hornazo'', a meat pie, is the most popular dish.

Sister cities and twin towns

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto, and Braga, it is the largest cit ...

(Portugal); since 1981. *

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg ...

(Germany); since 1981. *

Hefei Hefei (; ) is the capital and largest city of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, and cultural center of Anhui. Its population was 9,369,881 as of the 2020 census and its built-up ( ...

(China); since 2022.

Notable people

Public service

Alfonso XI of Castile Alfonso XI (13 August 131126 March 1350), called the Avenger (''el Justiciero''), was King of Castile and León. He was the son of Ferdinand IV of Castile and his wife Constance of Portugal. Upon his father's death in 1312, several disputes en ...

(1311–1350), King of Castile and León. *

Miguel Ramírez de Salamanca Miguel Ramírez de Salamanca, O.P. (died 1534) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of Santiago de Cuba (1530–1534). ''(in Latin)'' Biography Miguel Ramírez de Salamanca was born in Salamanca, Spain and was ordained as a prie ...

(died 1534), Bishop of Santiago de Cuba, 1530–1534. * Beatriz Galindo (ca.1465 – 1535), a Spanish Latinist, writer, humanist and teacher * Francisco de Montejo (ca.1479 – ca.1553),

in Mexico and Central America. *

Francisco Vázquez de Coronado Francisco Vázquez de Coronado y Luján (; 1510 – 22 September 1554) was a Spanish conquistador and explorer who led a large expedition from what is now Mexico to present-day Kansas through parts of the southwestern United States between 154 ...

(1510–1554),

in Mexico to Kansas. * Juan Vázquez de Coronado (1523–1565)

, colonised Costa Rica * Baldassare de Benavente (1638–1687), a Roman Catholic prelate & Bishop of Potenza *

Jerónimo Bécker Jerónimo Bécker y González (2 December 1857 - 25 May 1925) was a Spanish historian, diplomat and journalist. Bécker was born in Salamanca. He became a member of the ''Real Sociedad Geográfica de España'' in 1913, and was awarded the Knight ...

(1857-1925) historian, diplomat and journalist. *

José María Lamamié de Clairac y Colina José María Lamamié de Clairac y Colina (1887-1956) was a Spanish politician. He supported the Traditionalist cause, until the early 1930s as an Integrist and afterwards as a Carlist. Among the former he headed the regional León branch, amon ...

(1887-1956), politician * José María Gil-Robles (1898–1980), politician * Antolín de Santiago (born 1918), former politician, lawyer, professor, journalist & Mayor of Valladolid, 1971/1974. *

Elena Catena Elena Catena López (12 November 1920 – 19 January 2012) was a Spanish university professor, philologist, publisher, and feminist. She was one of the first women to obtain a doctorate in at the Complutense University of Madrid, and the first to ...

(1920–2012), university professor, philologist, publisher and feminist. * Francisco Rodríguez Adrados (1922–2020), Hellenist, linguist and translator *

Eleuterio Sánchez Eleuterio Sánchez Rodríguez (born 15 April 1942), known as El Lute, was at one time listed as Spain's "Most Wanted" criminal and later became a published writer. He was a legendary Spanish outlaw who escaped several times from prison after bei ...

(born 1942), former Spanish thief, today lawyer and published writer. *

Fernando Vérgez Alzaga Fernando Vérgez Alzaga L.C. (born 1 March 1945) is a Spanish prelate of the Catholic Church who has been President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and President of the Governorate of Vatican City State since 1 October 2021 ...

(born 1945), Secretary General of the Governorate of Vatican City State * Alfonso Fernández Mañueco (born 1965), politician, Mayor of Salamanca, 2011 to 2018. * Juan Moreno Yagüe (born 1973), a Spanish lawyer, activist and politician. Diego de Torres Villarroel

The Arts

* Fernando Gallego (1440–1507), Spanish painter, Hispano-Flemish in style. * Lucas Fernández (ca.1474 – 1542), writer, dramatist and musician. * Pedro Hernández (ca.1585 – 1665), sculptor, drawer and engraver of the Castilian school *

Diego de Torres Villarroel Diego de Torres Villarroel (169319 June 1770) was a Spanish writer, poet, dramatist, doctor, mathematician, priest and professor of the University of Salamanca. His most famous work is his autobiography, ''Vida, ascendencia, nacimiento, crianza y ...

(1693–1770), writer, poet, dramatist, doctor, mathematician, priest and professor of the University of Salamanca. * Manuel Francisco Álvarez de la Peña (1727–1797), Spanish sculptor. *

Antonio Carnicero Antonio Carnicero (1748–1814) was a Spanish painter of the Neoclassical style. In addition to his paintings, over the course of his career he also produced prints and engravings as well as creating theatrical decorations. Family and training ...

(1748–1814), painter of the Neoclassical style. *

Ventura Ruiz Aguilera Ventura Ruiz Aguilera (1820–1881) was a Spanish lyric poet, called "the Spanish Béranger.” Biography He was born in 1820 at Salamanca, where he graduated in medicine. He moved to Madrid in 1844, where he engaged in political journalism and ...

(1820–1881), a Spanish lyric poet. * Tomás Bretón (1850–1923), conductor and composer. *

Miguel de Unamuno Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo (29 September 1864 – 31 December 1936) was a Spanish essayist, novelist, poet, playwright, philosopher, professor of Greek and Classics, and later rector at the University of Salamanca. His major philosophical essa ...

(1864–1936), writer, novelist, poet, playwright, philosopher and academic *

Pedro Garfias Pedro Garfias Zurita (May 27, 1901 – August 9, 1967) was a Spanish poet. Garfias was born in Salamanca, Spain, but spent his childhood and youth in the Andalusian cities of Seville and Córdoba. In 1918 he moved to Madrid in order to study La ...

(1901–1967), poet. * María del Rosario López Piñuelas (born 1943), actress, stage name '' Charo Lopez'' * Yann Martel (born 1963), Canadian author of the

Man Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...

–winning novel '' Life of Pi''. * Juan Carlos Fernández-Nieto (born 1987), a Spanish-American pianist.

Science & business

Abraham Zacuto Abraham Zacuto ( he, , translit=Avraham ben Shmuel Zacut, pt, Abraão ben Samuel Zacuto; 12 August 1452 – ) was a Castilian astronomer, astrologer, mathematician, rabbi and historian who served as Royal Astronomer to King John II of Portugal. ...

(1452 – ca.1515), astronomer, astrologer, mathematician, rabbi and historian * José Ignacio Sánchez Galán (born 1950), engineer and manager, CEO of Iberdrola *

Mark Russinovich Mark Eugene Russinovich (born December 22, 1966) is a Spanish-born American software engineer and author who serves as CTO of Microsoft Azure. He was a cofounder of software producers Winternals before it was acquired by Microsoft in 2006. Ea ...

(born 1966) software engineer and author, CTO of

Microsoft Azure Microsoft Azure, often referred to as Azure ( , ), is a cloud computing platform operated by Microsoft for application management via around the world-distributed data centers. Microsoft Azure has multiple capabilities such as software as a ...

. * Susana Marcos Celestino (born 1970), physicist works on

human vision Visual perception is the ability to interpret the surrounding environment through photopic vision (daytime vision), color vision, scotopic vision (night vision), and mesopic vision (twilight vision), using light in the visible spectrum refle ...

and applied

optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultrav ...

Sport

* Vicente del Bosque (born 1950), footballer with 518 club caps and 18 for

and manager of

2008/2016 * Francisco Javier Sanz Alonso (1952–2022), Spanish Chess Championship winner (1973). * Teodora Ruano (born 1969) retired female track and road racing cyclist, competed in three Summer Olympics * Fátima Blázquez (born 1975) road cyclist, competed at the

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

* Félix Prieto (born 1975), former footballer with 474 club caps * Ibán Cuadrado (born 1979), former footballer with 544 club caps * Jonathan Martín (born 1981), footballer with over 500 club caps * Óscar González (born 1982), footballer with over 438 club caps *

Daniel Navarro Daniel Navarro García (born 18 July 1983) is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI ProTeam . Career Navarro was born in Salamanca. Having been one of Alberto Contador's domestiques for most of his career, he l ...

(born 1983), a professional road bicycle racer * Carlos Peña (born 1983), footballer with 572 club caps *

Álvaro Arbeloa Álvaro Arbeloa Coca (; born 17 January 1983) is a Spanish retired footballer, currently manager of Real Madrid Juvenil A. He predominantly played as a right-back, and occasionally on the left side. He started his professional career with Rea ...

(born 1983), footballer with 344 club caps and 56 for

* Cristina González Ramos (born 1983), a retired handball goalkeeper with 142 caps for

Javier Carpio Javier Carpio Martín (born 6 April 1984) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a right back for Palencia CF. Club career Born in Salamanca, Castile and León, Carpio was an UD Salamanca youth graduate. After making his debut as a ...

(born 1984), footballer with over 440 club caps * Kike López (born 1988), footballer with over 480 club caps

References

Bibliography

External links

*
City Council of SalamancaOfficial Tourist Information OfficeWiki of the city of SalamancaGeneral information on SalamancaGeneral information about events in SalamancaSalamanca travel guideSalamanca city guide
a
HitchHikers Handbook
Museums
Art Nouveau and Art Decó Museum Casa LisCar History MuseumCathedral Museum
{{Authority control Municipalities in the Province of Salamanca Populated places established in the 3rd century BC Province of Salamanca World Heritage Sites in Spain 3rd-century BC establishments in Spain Establishments in Spain in the Roman era