Paris1972-Versailles2003

We were back to my dear Spain again !! love it !! We came by car of course and took time to see new areas and old repeat with some of them as introduction to my sons and our dog Rex ! I rented a small house in a off the beaten path country town that was just perfect ! I like to continue the saga of our new road warrior experiences even if now with less in our family, This post is on my latest road warrior tour of wonderful sublime Spain.  Therefore, let me tell you about the Casa de las Conchas of Salamanca !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

The Casa de las Conchas at Calle Compañía, 2. is an old Gothic -style urban palace and stalls. Its construction begins in 1493 and concluded in 1517. Its facade is decorated with around 350 shells of Vieira, distinctive of the Order of Santiago. Gothic bars of windows are also important. Currently houses a public library, This house, whose facade is covered in scallop shell carvings, was built for Rodrigo Maldonado de Talavera, a chancellor of the Order of St. James, whose symbol is the shell. Among the playful plateresque details are the lions over the main entrance, engaged in a fearful tug-of-war with the Talavera crest. The interior has been converted into a public library. Duck into the charming courtyard, which has an intricately carved upper balustrade that imitates basketwork.

On the main facade, the adintelada door with two decorative orders stand out. In the upper part there is a blazon of the Maldonado framed by moldings of curved lines and straight lines, at the bottom of the lintel dolphins are represented, Renaissance symbol of love, attached to plant motifs. The four great Gothic style and exceptional beauty and variation windows are also important, as they are all different from each other; This asymmetry is characteristic of Gothic. Finally, we must refer to the stately tower, which stood majestically over the rest of the city in this way strengthening the message that the noble wanted to send to the rest of the city. Precisely for this reason, the tower was demolished losing two thirds of its height, by order of Carlos I and as punishment to the Maldonado among whose components were the common captains Francisco executed after the battle of Villalar and Pedro Maldonado, executed in 1522.

Inside there is a patio with a fusion of medieval, mudéjares and Renaissance elements. It has approximate dimensions of 18.80 x 16.80 meters, Finally, mention must be made to the three -sections staircase that enables the ascent to the upper floor. The staircase is not in front of the hall, but follows the Mediterranean (Roman and Muslim) tradition of preserving the intimacy of the home to the curious. The first section opens with the figure of a dog that supports the pimentel shield, the dog keeps and preserves the intimacy of the home. The second section opens with a lion that supports the shield of the Maldonado, the third opens with the union of the blazons of the Pimentel and the Maldonado.

The official public libraries of Salamanca on Casa de las Conchas :https://bibliotecas.jcyl.es/web/es/bibliotecasalamanca/biblioteca-publica-salamanca.html

The City of Salamanca on its history : https://aytosalamanca.es/w/historia

The Salamanca tourist office on its heritage: https://salamanca.es/en/essential-salamanca/culture-and-cultural-heritage/monuments

The Castilla y Leon regional tourist office on Salamanca :https://www.turismocastillayleon.com/en/heritage-culture/salamanca

The Unesco world heritage site on old town Salamanca: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/381/

There you go folks , another wonderful nostalgic, sentimental trip to my dear Spain, Do not know when we will be back, we sure will have this trip in our hearts forever, Again, hope you enjoy this post on the Casa de las Conchas of Salamanca !!! as I

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!