Visit the University of Salamanca, where knowledge resides

Visiting the University of Salamanca is one of the best activities you can do in this spectacular city that offers you so many wonderful options. It is the oldest university in Spain, and the third in Europe, and one of the best places to see in Salamanca.

The University of Salamanca has more than 800 years of history and students from all over Spain have passed through it during all these centuries, some as illustrious as Antonio de Nebrija, Francisco de Vitoria, Calderón de la Barca or Miguel de Unamuno, who became its principal. And other more recent ones like Adolfo Suárez.

Here we are going to detail how to visit the University of Salamanca, specifically its main building, better known as Escuelas Mayores and one of the most famous buildings in Salamanca.

Visit the University of Salamanca

The main facade

Probably as interesting as the interior of the Escuelas Mayores is its main façade, located on Calle Libreros and the Patio de las Escuelas, one of the most impressive corners of Salamanca, and possibly of Spain.

This is the best place to admire the façade of the Escuelas Mayores and there we can also admire the Escuelas Menores, the Hopital del Estudio (which currently houses the Rectorate) and the Statue of Fray Luis de León.

The Plateresque façade that gives access to the Escuelas Mayores of the University of Salamanca is an authentic work of art that you will be able to see in few places, one of the greatest works of Spanish Plateresque. In it we can find numerous medallions, shields and ornamentation. And it is here that you should look for the famous frog, symbol of the main facade of the University of Salamanca.

Legend has it that the student who finds the frog on the façade will be lucky and will be able to pass all his exams. Will it be true?

The interior of the Senior Schools

After accessing the interior and going through the ticket offices, you will be in front of one of the most impressive wonders that you can find in Salamanca.

Going through the Gothic vault through which you access, you will reach the main courtyard of the University of Salamanca, with two floors and where you can find the typical Vítores de la Universidad, the symbols painted in red that doctorates had the right to paint.

The first thing is to visit the ground floor of the courtyard to discover the different classrooms that overlook it. Among these classrooms, we must highlight that of Fray Luis de León, where he taught his theology classes, but also the Unamuno Classroom, which is named after the former rector of the University of Salamanca and one of the best writers of Spanish literature.

The Auditorium of the University of Salamanca is another of the places that we must highlight on this ground floor and that you must visit, as well as the Chapel, from the 18th century. This chapel occupies both floors and can also be admired from the upper floor, which we will go to later.

After ascending the impressive Renaissance stairs that take you to the upper floor, we will arrive at one of the jewels of the main building of the University of Salamanca, the Library, in Baroque style and one of the most spectacular places you will find in this city.

In it we can admire 785 incunabula from the 15th century, although you will have to do it through the glass that protects this wonder.

You can find more information on the official website of the University of Salamanca.