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 this is Salamanca !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
We came from our rental house in Velliza to Salamanca ,plaza mayor on A62 to exit 238 on to SA 11 carretera ruta de la plata N630 to centro 1h10 or 107 km direct, We parked at Le Mans Plaza de los Bandos, No. 1-5,and folks Real Madrid fans !!! The City of Salamanca is capital of the province of Salamanca located in the Autonomous Community of Castilla y León, and in the kingdom of Spain. In 1988, the Old City was declared a World Heritage for UNESCO, The City is located 109 km from Ávila, 121 km from Valladolid, 123 km from Portugal and 214 km from Madrid.
Salamanca was an awakining of old memories as since much younger age have not been back, this was a great opportunity to show my boys the roots deep in my dear Spain. Salamanca has it all for this purpose and more, a must to visit by all. It has a very good connection to the road network, being connected to several highways, national, regional and provincial roads. My usual ones are the A62 Autovia de Castilla, and the N630. This post will be sort of an introduction to the city as there will be more posts to come. Anyway, it will be impossible to cover all of its sights in a short period, but the memories will lingered again for more visits ,eventually.
As wandering in town a bit hungry we passed by a wonderful coffee bakery shop Santa Gloria on the same Plaza del Corrillo and it was superbe!! We notice they had branches in other cities including Madrid!
A bit of history I like tell us that the origins of the city date back about 2700 years, during the first Iron Age, when the first residents of the city settled in the hill of San Vicente, on the Tormes riverbank. Since then, the metropolis has witnessed the passage of various peoples: vacce, vetones, Romans, Visigoths and Muslims. It was Raimundo de Borgoña, son -in -law of King Alfonso VI de León, who was in charge of repopulating the city during the medieval period, and setting the bases of the current Salamanca, The origin of the name is not clear, we leave it there, In 1873, after proclaiming the First Republic, the first serious attempt of federalization of Spain was undertaken through the project of constitution of 1873. Just five days after the presentation of this project, Salamanca suffered a cantonalist uprising that, after four days of success , was suffocated on July 26, 1873. Subsequently, a military pronouncement was carried out by the First Republic and in passing the regionalizing initiative of the federal state. The Army uprising against the Second Republic triumphed in the City from the first moment during the Spanish civil war, between October 1936 and November 1937, the Episcopal Palace was residence and command center of General Franco.
Some historical facts in Salamanca: The creation of the first grammar of Spanish in 1492 by Antonio de Nebrija, the famous Grammatica. It was the first study of the rules of a western European language that was not Latin and this marks the beginning of the Spanish Golden Age. Antonio de Nebrija was also the first person in the western world to claim copyright. Cristóbal Colón’s preparations for his first trip in the discovery of America. The Cloister of the University of Salamanca was gathered on advice to deal with its project. During these years, Columbus achieves the support of the Dominicans, staying in the convent of San Esteban. The local astronomer Abraham Zacut was his great scientific support for the trip. The years of Hernán Cortés study before leaving America and conquering the Aztec Empire. The defense of the rights of the Indigenous people of the New World by the Salamanca School, which with Francisco de Vitoria was the head, reformulated the concept of natural law, renewed theology, laid the foundations of the right of modern people, of the Law International and modern economic science and actively participated in the Council of Trent. In this council, the mathematicians of the University of Salamanca proposed to Pope Gregory XIII the calendar that came to be known as Gregorian calendar and is currently used throughout the world. The germ were two studies carried out in 1515 and 1578 by scientists from the University, who were referred to the Church, The partial translation of the Bible into Spanish, made by Fray Luis de León. The book printed on the oldest modern chess preserved, repetition of love and chess art, of the religious Luis Ramírez de Lucena, published in Salamanca in 1496.
The stayed of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, possible student of the University, which influenced his books :the entremés La Cueva de Salamanca, Don Quijote de la Mancha in which he makes references to Salamanca through the character of the Bachelor Samson Carrasco,La tía fingida or the fake aunt and El licenciado Vidriera or graduate Vidriera.
The City of Salamanca on its history :http://www.aytosalamanca.es/es/tuciudad/historia/
The Salamanca tourist office: https://salamanca.es/en/
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 this is Salamanca !!! as I
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 