Salamanca

Salamanca (Spanish: [salaˈmaŋka] ^ⓘ) is a municipality and city in the autonomous community of Castile and León in Spain, and the capital of the Province of Salamanca. Attached to the comarca of Campo Charro, the city lies on the northern half of the Meseta Central, in the western-central part of the Iberian Peninsula, straddling the Tormes river. Its population in 2024 was 144,458, making Salamanca the 46th-largest municipality in Spain.

The Iron Age hilltop site of Cerro de San Vicente on the right bank of the Tormes is considered the first human settlement in the current city. By the 3rd century BC, urban settlement in the nearby Teso de las Catedrales had consolidated under the influence of the Vaccaei and Vettones, regional Celtic tribes. Following Roman subjugation, the indigenous oppidum became the Roman civitas of Salmantica. Little is known of the history of the place after the Migration Period. Christian settlement under the Kingdom of León led by Raymond of Burgundy took hold in the 11th century. Salamanca features the University of Salamanca, one of the oldest in Western Europe. Founded in 1218 as a studium generale, it has held the status of university since 1254. It gained widespread recognition in the 16th century for the intellectual production of the so-called School of Salamanca. In addition, the city has also recently developed as a centre for Spanish-language learning.

The Old City of Salamanca is a World Heritage Site, featuring notable examples of plateresque architecture. The Holy Week in Salamanca enjoys the status of Fiesta of International Tourist Interest.