The golden Spain

Salamanca is far away from Jaisalmer, the golden city in the midst of the Rajasthan desert. Yet, as I stood on the vast Plaza Mayor, a square in this city in northwestern Spain, I felt a sense of déjà vu.

The summer afternoon’s glow painted the facades of the surrounding baroque buildings a rich gold, and somehow it brought back memories of visiting the fort-city amidst the sand dunes of the Thar desert made famous by maestro Satyajit Ray in his Bengali film Sonar Kella.

Salamanca, nicknamed La Dorada (the golden city), is the capital of the Castile and the León region of Spain, and lies by River Tormes on a plateau. Ruled successively by the Celts, Romans, Muslims and Spaniards, it’s known for the beautiful architecture of sandstone mined from the nearby Villamayor quarry, and is considered to be one of the most outstanding cities from the Renaissance era in Europe.

UNESCO has declared it a World Heritage City and in 2002, it was chosen as the ‘European City of Culture’, together with Bruges in Belgium.

It’s a city whose old quarter can be, in fact, should be, explored on foot. Because at every corner there is an interesting structure, an edifice, or a church steeped in history to discover. As I did.

On this summer afternoon, Salamanca seemed to slumber and at peace, enjoying the sun despite many tourists moving around. In the must-visit list, the twin cathedrals figure at the top. The cathedrals, Old and New, stand back-to-back as if they are conjoined twins. In fact, entry to the Old Cathedral has to be made through the New Cathedral. The latter had to be built in the 16th century as the population grew and there was not enough space in the existing one. The Old Cathedral was also a kind of fortification in those days.

Inside, it exuded an air of old times with its Romanesque architecture. Worth checking out is the cloister and the beautifully decorated tombs of the past bishops and important personalities of the day. Also worth the effort is the steep climb to the roof to enjoy a panoramic view of the medieval city.

Gothic get-up

The New Cathedral is more gothic, with touches of Renaissance and baroque at places. At the entrance, people crowd in to watch the ‘astronaut’ carved on the door panel, done in 1992 during a renovation, at once catapulting the medieval building to 20th century.

In this golden city, there is also a touch of silver. Salamanca is renowned for an artistic movement in architecture called plateresque, characterised by ornate decorative facades that create beautiful silver-filigree effect; it’s a speciality of the region. In Spanish, ‘plata’ means silver.

One of the best examples of plateresque is the façade of the university in Salamanca. Founded in 1218, Universidad de Salamanca is the third oldest university in Europe, and the oldest in Spain.

Indeed, Salamanca has been recognised as a centre of learning from medieval times, and even today, the student community is more than 40,000 strong. It’s also in Salamanca where the purest Spanish — Castellano — is spoken, which makes the city a popular destination for students of the Spanish language.

The sound of crackers and music greeted me as I stepped into the university area. Lo and behold! A wedding party was waiting to greet a newly-wed couple to emerge from the university church even as another party was ‘in queue’ to enter. Apparently, churches are booked for weddings on Saturdays in the summer season. It was nice to discover that the locals burst crackers and shower rice grains to greet the newly-weds as in many parts of India.

Today, classes are not held in the old premises of the university; they are meticulously preserved to showcase the way classrooms were those days. There are narrow desks just enough to keep the elbows, as students were expected to listen attentively to the teacher and then write from memory during homework hours. The extensive library and repositories of famous teachers are great places to get introduced to the intellectual hub that Salamanca was in the medieval period. Many people visit the city to experience the atmosphere of medieval university life.

Also, a great façade to admire is the House of Conchas, which currently locates a public library. Its façade displays more than 300 shellfish designs. It was built between 1493 and 1517 by Rodrigo Arias de Maldonado, a knight and professor of the order of Santiago de Compostela. Santiago or St James, Spain’s patron saint, is symbolised by the shellfish.

Museum & more

The Lis Art Nouveau Museum, as the name suggests, is much more modern in structure and content as it was built in 1905. Situated behind the cathedral, its Venetian glass edifice in green and multiple colours is striking. Inside, I was greeted by a courtyard surrounded by two floors done in intricate work. The collection, a paean to aesthetics, from wonderful Art Deco dancing figures by Demetre Chiparus, to toys, perfume bottles, to furniture of that era, harks back to a luxurious and a less-troubled time difficult to replicate today.

To get introduced to the historical buildings in case you have time constraints — the university and colleges the Jesuits built, or the Roman Bridge — hop on to the quaint green train for tourists, which leaves Plaza de Anaya at regular intervals accompanied by running commentary.

Walk around the Rua Mayor street near Plaza Mayor, lined with numerous shops displaying the usual touristy stuff to local, antique-style jewellery and artefacts, and restaurants. Enjoy some street art or just sit down near a fountain to observe the world go by. Oh yes, Salamanca is also famous for excellent food — sea fish, cheese, varieties of meat, and desserts.

In the afternoon and late evening in summers, the best thing to do would be to sit at Plaza Mayor. From locals to tourists, it’s the place to congregate and enjoy a choice of your beverage or meal.

As I sat on the terrace of Plaza Mayor on the last day of my visit, enjoying a meal with Sangria, the afternoon sun turned the facades of the buildings into golden edifices, and some strains of a Tuna band (which originated with the student community in the Middle Ages) wafted in. It seemed a perfect time to etch in memory this beautiful Castilian city.