in search of peace in festival-hungover Salamanca

Country: Spain
Place: Salamanca
Visited in: September 2006

First Impression

Hitting a town in the aftermath of a festival is never a good idea. People are tired after all the celebrating, the town will be overflowing with rubbish waiting to be collected and if the weather is hot the extra rubbish sends out a smell that Chanel will be in no hurry to bottle.

All of this I was willing to ignore, when I visited Salamanca straight after its Fiesta de la Virgen de la Vega (a two week festival held in September in honour of the Virgin of the Valley, Salamanca’s patron Virgin). After all the mood changes, people bounce back and the rubbish will get cleared eventually.

It was the noise that stopped me from fully enjoying this otherwise beautiful little town. Salamanca has far too much traffic for its size and hardly any streets are car-free. The car-noise gets amplified by the otherwise wonderful cobbled streets and bounces off the sandstone walls, so wherever you are, you constantly get interupted by car-noise. Run the short video displayed under “Plaza Mayor” to get a feeling of how noise gets amplified when trapped between the walls.

Having said that, if you are less sensitive to noise than I am, there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t fall head-over-heels in love with this little town. Salamanca is an old university town with lovely sandstone architecture and an atmosphere, I’ve been told, typical of a northern Spanish town.

Plaza Mayor

Most guide books will tell you that this main square in Salamanca is the most beautiful main plaza in Spain. Architecturally it certainly is pretty. Plaza Mayor is also close to most attractions in Salamanca, so visitors are likely to find themselves crossing the square quite a few times during their stay.

In terms of atmosphere the plaza is too crowded for my liking. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a great believer in people watching, but only when there is actually room to also chat to these people. The plaza gets particularly busy at lunch time and in the evening after 20:00, but I never actually found the plaza empty. Even at 7 in the morning pulling my suitcase across the plaza, a group of students were goofing around the plaza.

This video was shot just before Plaza Major got very busy, but you should still be able to get an idea of what the noise is like when the plaza is full.

Note the video will take a while to load the first time, but should play
without breaks the second time you play it.

Plaza de La Libertad close to Plaza Major is more my kind of plaza. It was one of the few places where I could relax and it was quiet enough to be able to actually talk to people even if it was in very bad Spanish (mine, of course, not the Salmantinos’). It is also a great place to just sit and watch the world go by.

Casa de las Conchas

As impressive as the ajimez windows and the 300-odd scallop shells are, don’t miss out on Casa de las Conchas’ (house of shells) courtyard. It’s the sort of outdoor space that no house should be without, if I had my way. I really felt at home there. Upstairs we found a powerfull exhibition of posters on domestic violence. See the Salamanca photo series for the poster I found most effective.

La Universidad

If it weren’t for the sun cooking my brain, I could have stood for hours admiring the minute details of the façade of the University of Salamanca. Once you’ve spotted the frog, and there really isn’t much of it left, don’t forget to visit the courtyard of Las Escuelas Menores, where you’ll find the university museum. This courtyard really is a feast for the eyes.

Las Catedrales Nueva y Vieja

Plaza de Anaya is a great place to sit and admire La Catedral Nueva (the New Cathedral), however it was La Catedral Vieja (the Old Cathedral) that caught my eye. But then I’m far more a people person than a building person, so what do I know. I do know that I felt far calmer looking at the Old Cathedral than the New, its also much quieter around the back.

I also really enjoyed the peace and quiet in Parque de Calixto y Melibea (I’ve also seen it called Huerto de Calisto y Melibea). It’s a little haven full of plants very close to the Old Cathdral, where I sat for a while resting my ears.

Río Tormes, Puente Romano and La Casa Lis

I’m always drawn towards water where ever I am, so Río Tormes was a real treat, even if the water level was a bit low. Puente Romano is a lovely place to get lost in your own thoughts, but remember a hat if you go in the day time as there is no shade to be found.

El Convento de las Dueñas

The entrance to El Convento de las Dueñas (Las Dueñas Convent) is hidden around the corner from Iglesia-Convento San Esteban.

Apart from having a wonderful courtyard with wonderful views (yes I have a thing for inner courtyards), the convent also houses the remains of “La Santa Negrita” also known as “La Negrita de la Penitencia”. She was born into a noble family in West Africa in the late 17th century, but captured as a slave by Spanish sailors at the young age of 10.

She ended up as a servant at El Convento de las Dueñas after having been turned away at many other convents because she was black. In 1704 she was acknowledged as a sister and given the name Sister Teresa Juliana de Santo Domingo (now Venerable Sister Teresa Chikaba on her way to sainthood).

“La Santa Negrita” was known for having saliva and hands that could cure the sick. There is also a story about how she saved Salamanca from being bombed by the Portuguese during La Guerra de Sucesión (War of the Spanish Succession 1702-1714). According to legend she went to one of the windows of the convent and held up a picture of a saint. This action diverted the bombs away from the town and made the Portuguese miss their targets.

Or at least that is the story I could make out with my poor Spanish. Please do leave a comment below if I got it wrong.

Worth a visit

Even though the level of noise in Salamanca bothered me, Salamanca is still worth a visit in my opinion. Salamanca has many more attractions than the few mentioned above, but as mentioned earlier I’m far more a people person than a building person. I like to take time out to just get the feel of a place, i.e. its people and atmosphere. I can’t think of a better way to enjoy Salamanca or anywhere in Spain for that matter than sitting in a plaza enjoying a drink and a few tapas watching the world go by.

Photographs

You can see some of our photographs from Salamanca in the Photographs from Salamanca series.

Please note that you will need the Macromedia Flash Player to view the photo presentation.

Resources

Our Salamanca Resources page includes information about how we got there, where we stayed, maps of what we did in Salamanca and links to web sites with useful information about Salamanca.

View of a Local

View of a Local in Salamanca in Spain is the first interview in our new View of a Local series. In this interview Erin gives us a few tips on how best to visit Salamanca.

Technorati Tags: Salamanca, Spain, Plaza Major, Casa de las Conchas, La Universidad, Las Catedrales Nueva y Vieja, Río Tormes, Puente Romano, La Casa Lis, El Convento de las Dueñas, View of a Local

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