Spain Guide
Castilla y León and La Rioja
The cathedrals
Opening time: Catedral Nueva daily: summer 9am–8pm; winter 9am–1pm & 4–6pm. Catedral Vieja daily: summer 10am–7.30pm; winter 10am–12.30pm & 4–5.30pm
Price: Catedral Nueva free; Catedral Vieja €4.25
Begun in 1512, the Catedral Nuevawas a glorious last-minute assertion of Gothic architecture. The main entrance is contemporary with that of the university and equally dazzling in its wealth of ornamental detail, while the doorways on the north side facing Plaza de Anaya are scarcely less fine. For financial reasons, construction spanned two centuries and thus the building incorporates a range of styles; if you stand under the dome, you can clearly see the transition from Gothic at the bottom to late Baroque at the top. Alberto Churriguera and his brother José both worked here – the former on the choirstalls, the latter on the dome.
The earlier, Romanesque Catedral Vieja is dwarfed by its neighbour, through which it's entered. The chapels opening off the cloisters were used as university lecture rooms until the sixteenth century and one, the Capilla de Obispo Diego de Anaya, contains the oldest organ in Europe (mid-fourteenth century). Otherwise, the cathedral's most distinctive feature is its dome, known as the Torre de Gallo (Cock Tower) on account of its rooster-shaped weather vane. Fashioned like the segments of an orange, the dome derives from Byzantine models and is similar to those at Zamora and Toro; there's a good view of it from Patio Chico around the back of the cathedrals. Also at the rear is the entrance to the Exposición Ieronimus (enter from Plaza Juan XXIII; daily 10am–7.15pm; €3.25), primarily a collection of rare documents relating to the cathedral and named after the first bishop of Salamanca. However, it occupies the medieval Torre Mocha, through which you get to clamber, and has outstanding views over the city.