So, sadly, the last day of walking this stage of the VdlP. I had actually made good time so there was an extra day of sightseeing possible but first there was an easy 24k walk into the city.
I was quite keen on this part of the walk. I was aware that I would be crossing the battlefield of Salamanca when, in July 1812, an Ango-Portuguese army led by Wellington defeated a French army led by Marmont. The way leads through the western part of the battlefield and musket balls are still regularly found. To the East one can see the Arapiles, low hills where the fighting continued after the French left wing had been crushed.
Walked in as a group of pilgrims, chatting to a Swedish translator who clearly had excellent English. The approach across the river at Salamanca is dramatic - city planners have been careful to preserve the view of the city from the south.
Salamanca needs no praise from me. First enters the history books when Hannibal of Carthage besieged the place in the 3rd century BC. The university is one of the oldest in the world being beaten only by Bologna and Oxford in age. But the jewel to me is the cathedral.
I've been to many a cathedral or church where the description says something like "in the 13th century, Bishop Tasteless had the original Romanesque structure replaced with a gothic building, using architects from....". And one always wonders what did the old structure look like? In Salamanca, there is no such mystery. They simply built a new cathedral (the "New Cathedral") adjoining the old one (the "Old Cathedral"). Pop through a door and one moves from Gothic to Romanesque in one easy step.
Oh, and just in case you missed the point about St James and scallops.- the Casa de las Conchas, currently housing a library.
Gothic on the left, Romanesque on the right. Can barely see the join.
The Lisbon earthquake did a fair bit of damage. That was in 1755, so someone will come along soon to fix it.
Salamanca's historic centre has many university buildings, all marked by this Harry Potter-esque script.
The imposing Plaza Mayor which had many Spanish flags draped from the buildings. At the time, the Catalans were having one of their independence campaigns so I reckoned that this was a reaction from this conservative part of Spain.
Stayed in a NH hotel in town close to the sights and also found a great wine bar / restaurant, iPan iVino, in the town centre where the little pilgrim group had a final meal. As always, seems such a shame to be bailing out and not carrying on to Santiago. Still, it will be two more visits to complete the VdlP. Can't wait to get back here.
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