Salamanca

Salamanca, a city of Spain, stands on and between four low hills beside the river Tormes, 110 miles NW. of Madrid. From the middle of the 13th to the close of the 17th century it was the seat of one of the most celebrated universities in Europe. Founded in 1243, this great school won renown at first for the teaching of civil and canon law; later theology became an important faculty. In the 16th century there were here from 6000 to 8000 students, amongst them the members of an Irish College; at the present day there are not more than 400. The university buildings date chiefly from the 15th century, and are Gothic in style. In Salamanca's palmy days her population reached 50,000, and the university counted more than a score of colleges. The library, founded in 1254, contains 70,500 vols. and 870 MSS. The city is still surrounded with walls, pierced by ten gates, and preserves very much of its mediæval appearance, its houses, convents, and churches, its streets and squares having altered but little since the university began to decline. The river is crossed by a bridge of twenty-seven arches, in part of Roman construction. The great square is the largest perhaps in Spain; it is surrounded by an arcade, and has on one side the municipal buildings. It was used for bull-fights, and can hold 20,000 spectators. The city possesses two cathedrals; the old cathedral, cruciform in shape, late Romanesque in style, and dating from the 12th century, is richly decorated with paintings and monuments; the new cathedral (1513-1734) is a florid Gothic pile, also richly decorated. Amongst the remaining noteworthy buildings are the Jesuit College (1614), Renaissance in style; the Old College, now the governor's palace; the convents of the Dominicans and the Augustinians, the churches of which are both elaborately ornamented. In the middle ages Salamancia was famous for its leather-work; at the present day it has not much industry, save a little manufacture of cloth, linen, leather, and pottery. Pop. (1886) 17,155. The town was captured by Hannibal in 222 B.C. The Moors were expelled from its walls in 1055. During the Peninsular war it was taken by the French (1812), who committed great destruction in one of its quarters, and in the vicinity Wellington defeated Marmont on 22d July 1812.—The province, which produces a good deal of wool, has an area of 4940 sq. m. and a pop (1887) of 314,424.