Salamanca

SALAMANCA, the capital of the Spanish province of Sala manca (anc. Salmantica or Elmantica), on the right bank of the river Tormes, 2,648 ft. above sea-level and 172 m. by rail N.W. of Madrid. Pop. (193o) 46,867.

The town was of importance as early as 222 B.C., when it was captured by Hannibal from the Vettones ; and it afterwards be came under the Romans the ninth station on the Via Lata from Merida to Saragossa. It passed successively under the rule of the Goths and the Moors, till the latter were finally driven out about 1055. About I 1o0 many foreign settlers were induced by Alphonso VI. to establish themselves in the district, and the city was enlarged by Count Raymond of Burgundy. The Fuero de Salamanca, a celebrated code of civil law, probably dates from about 1200. Thenceforward, until the second half of the i6th century, the prosperity of the university rendered the city one of the most important in Spain.

Salamanca is the centre of a network of railways which radi ate north to Zamora, north-east to Medina, east to Pefiaranda, south to Plasencia, west-south-west to Guarda in Portugal, and west to Oporto in Portugal. The river is here crossed by a bridge 500 ft. long built on twenty-six arches, fifteen of which are of Roman origin, while the remainder date from the i6th century. The city is still much the same in outward appearance as when its tortuous streets were thronged with students. The university was naturally the chief source of wealth to the town, the popula tion of which in the i6th century numbered 50,00o, nearly 8,000 of whom were students. Its decay of course reacted on the towns folk, but it fortunately also arrested the process of moderniza tion. The ravages of war alone have wrought serious damage, for the French in their defensive operations in 1811-1812 almost destroyed the western quarter. The magnificent Plaza Mayor, built by Andres Garcia de Quinones at the beginning of the i8th century, and capable of holding 20,000 people to witness a bull fight, is one of the finest squares in Europe. It is surrounded by an arcade of ninety arches on Corinthian columns, one side of the square being occupied by the municipal buildings. The decorations of the facades are in the Renaissance style, and the plaza as a whole is a fine sample of Plateresque architecture.

The University.

Salamanca is still rich in educational estab lishments. It still keeps up its university, with the separate faculties of letters, philosophy, sciences, law and medicine; its university and provincial public library, with many thousand volumes and mss. ; its Irish college, provincial institute, superior

normal school, ecclesiastical seminary (founded in 1778), eco nomic and other learned societies, and very many charitable foundations. The city has still its 25 parishes, 25 colleges, and as many more or less ruinous convents, and BD yet flourishing re ligious houses. The university, the oldest in the Peninsula, was founded about 1230 by Alphonso IX. of Leon, and refounded in 1242 by St. Ferdinand of Castile. Under the patronage of the learned Alphonso X. its wealth and reputation greatly increased (1252-1282), and its schools of canon law and civil law attracted students even from Paris and Bologna. In the 15th and i6th cen turies it was renowned throughout Europe. Here Columbus lec tured on his discoveries, and here the Copernican system was taught long before it had won general acceptance. But soon after 1550 a period of decline set in.

Principal Buildings.

The old cathedral is a cruciform build ing of the 12th century, begun by Bishop Jeronimo, the con fessor of the Cid (q.v.). Its style of architecture is that Late Romanesque which prevailed in the south of France, but the builder showed much originality in the construction of the dome, which covers the crossing of the nave and transepts. The inner dome is made to spring, not from immediately above the arches, but from a higher stage of a double arcade pierced with windows. The thrust of the vaulting is borne by four massive pinnacles, and over the inner dome is an outer pointed one covered with tiles. The Capilla de Talavera is used as a chapel for service according to the Mozarabic rite, which is celebrated there six times a year. On the north of and adjoining the old church stands the new cathedral, built from designs by Juan Gil de Ontafion. Though begun in 1509 the work of construction made little progress until 1513, when it was entrusted to Ontafion under Bishop Francisco de Bobadilla ; though not finished till it is a notable example of the late Gothic and Plateresque styles. Its length is 34o ft. and its breadth 16o ft. The treasury is very rich, and amongst other articles possesses a custodia which is a masterpiece of gold smith's work, and a bronze crucifix of undoubted authenticity, which was borne before the Cid in battle.