 Salamanca has been named the Cultural Capital of Europe for 2002. Not only full of spectacular buildings, most in pristine condition and dating from the days of the Roman and Moorish occupations and beyond, Salamanca is also the city in which resides the oldest university of Spain.
In 1988 Salamanca was officially declared a World Heritage city. An ancient university town to the north-west of Madrid, Salamanca was first conquered by the Carthaginians in the 3rd century B.C. After the defeat of the Carthaginians during the 2nd Punic Wars, Salamanca then became a Roman settlement before being ruled by the Moors until the 11th century.
The university, one of the oldest in Europe, reached its high point during Salamanca's golden age. The city's historic centre has important Romanesque, Gothic, Moorish, Renaissance and Baroque monuments. The Plaza Mayor, with its galleries and arcades, is particularly impressive.
 Pre-Roman remains are found in many areas of the city, especially along the ‘Calzada de la Plata’ or ancient ‘Silver trading routes’ which, passing through Salamanca, united Mérida, Astorga with northern Spain.
During the Roman occupation the city was known as ‘Salmántica’ and belonged to the Roman province of Lusitania. One of its claims to fame is that during the 2nd Punic War the city was besieged by the gifted and feared Carthaginian general, Hannibal.
With the decline of the Roman Empire the Visigoths took over heralding a brief period of early Christianity. There remains, however, little archaeological evidence of Visigothic rule.
Between the 7th and the 11th century Salamanca came under Muslim rule. Once the Christian rulers to the north became more organised, an intense period of military rivalry commenced with the city being taken and retaken several times by both sides.
The city was definitively conquered in 1085 by the great pro-European king Alfonso VI who placed the colonisation of this part of his kingdom in the hands of his son-in-law, Count Raimundo de Borgoña who had married to his first-born, Doña Urraca, in 1096. During this time the city was granted its first municipal charter.
In 1218 Alfonso IX de León founded what was to become the University of Salamanca, an institution that soon received great favours from Fernando el Santo and Alfonso X ‘The Wise’ who established the number and type of chairs the University was to be composed of. In 1254, Pope Alexander IV called the University of Salamanca "one of the four leading lights of the world".
The 15th century was a period of agitation in Salamanca as it was in the rest of Spain. Spain was caught in a bitter civil war between the supporters of D. Alvaro de Luna and the Infantes of Aragón. The city was divided into two enemy groups, each side taking on the name of the parishes of Santo Tomé or San Benito and, in spite of the passionate preaching of San Juan de Sahagún, blood was released in copious quantities throughout the city.
Salamanca was badly affected by the Peninsula War. From 1808 to 1811 it was open to the armies who disputed the hegemony of Europe on Spanish soil. The last great event here was the battle of Arapiles, which took place at the very gates of the city and in which Wellington defeated Napoleon's army. This led to the withdrawal of the latter from Spanish territory.
The fighting heavily scarred the Salamancan skyline and many architectural treasures such as colleges, palaces and buildings, including the Colegio Mayor de Cuenca which was considered to be one of the marvels of architecture, were irretrievably damaged.
Arguably, the most indestructible of Salamanca’s treasures include the innumerable historical celebrities that have passed through the university’s gates.
These range from Fray Luis de León, Antonio de Nebrija, Francisco de Vitoria, Cervantes, Menéndez Valdés, San Juan de la Cruz de Miguel de Unamuno to Gonzalo Torrente Ballester. All have left their mark of history of this beautiful city.
Today, Salamanca is a vibrant city that offers an intense spiritual life due to its close and intimate links with the university. It is this, in all its aspects, which adds emotion and colour to the city’s daily rhythm and makes Salamanca one of the most privileged of university towns of Europe.
More information
http://www.salamancaciudaddecultura.org/salam.html
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