UNESCO listed the old city of Salamanca in 1988, and it is easy to see why. Within a compact area on a low hill above the river Tormes, there are two cathedrals joined together, a university founded in 1218 by King Alfonso IX of León, a magnificent baroque square and an astonishing number of convents, palaces and colleges, all built in the same golden sandstone. Salamanca's university is the oldest in Spain, and in its golden age in the sixteenth century it was one of the great centres of learning in Europe, where Columbus's ideas were once debated and where scholars argued about law, theology and the rights of the peoples of the New World.
The Plaza Mayor is the centre of everything. It was built between 1729 and 1755 in the baroque style, with arcades around all four sides and medallions of Spanish kings and famous figures set in the spandrels, and in the evening it fills with students, families and tourists. The university's main facade is a riot of Plateresque stone carving, so dense that finding the tiny frog hidden in the decoration has become a ritual. Legend has it that students who spot it without help will pass their exams. Nearby, the Casa de las Conchas, a house from the late fifteenth century, is covered with hundreds of stone scallop shells.
The streets of the old city are narrow and mostly pedestrian, so the bike is best parked on the edge. Cobbles are polished and slippery when wet, and traffic can be confusing. The best way to enjoy the place is on foot, early in the morning or late in the evening. Light is lovely on the stone at both ends of the day. Winter mornings are frosty, with clear air, and summer evenings are warm and long.
The city is a good base for riding, with endless straight roads across the plateau and winding mountain roads to the south. Fuel stations are abundant on the ring roads. A traditional treat is hornazo, a savoury pie filled with pork and sausage, eaten in spring. A little bit of local practice: doctoral graduates here still have their names painted in red on the walls, a tradition called the Víctor, which you will see on a number of buildings. It is the kind of detail that makes the city feel alive.