Salamanca

Sister cities

• Coimbra
• Nîmes
• Bruges
• Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
• Würzburg
• Buenos Aires

History

Salamanca has been linked to Universal History by a series of events and personalities that came to mark the evolution of Western society: * The creation of the first grammar of Spanish language in 1492 by Antonio de Nebrija, the famous Gramática de la lengua castellana. It was the first study of the rules of a Western European language other than Latin and this fact marks the beginning of the Spanish Golden Age. * The preparations of Christopher Columbus for his first voyage in the European discovery of the Americas. The Cloister of the University of Salamanca met in council to discuss his project. During these years, Columbus obtained the support of the Dominicans, staying at the Convento de San Esteban. The Salamanca astronomer Abraham Zacuto was his great scientific support for the trip. * The years of study of Hernán Cortés before leaving for the Americas and conquering the Aztec Empire. * The defense of the rights of the natives of the New World by the School of Salamanca, which, with Francisco de Vitoria at its head, reformulated the concept of natural law, renewed theology, laid the foundations of modern law of nations, international law and modern economic science, and actively participated in the Council of Trent. * At this council, mathematicians from the University of Salamanca proposed to Pope Gregory XIII the calendar that came to be known as the Gregorian calendar and is currently used all over the world. The germ was two studies carried out in 1515 and 1578 by scientists at the university, which were submitted to the church. * The partial translation of the Bible into Spanish, made by Friar Luis de León. * The oldest preserved printed book on modern chess, Repetición de amores y arte de ajedrez, by the religious Luis Ramírez de Lucena, published in…

Geography

Integrated in the comarca of Campo Charro, the capital of Salamanca is located 64 kilometers from Zamora, 109 kilometers from Ávila, 121 kilometers from Valladolid, 123 kilometers from Portugal and 202 kilometers from Cáceres. The relief of the municipality is characterized by the confluence of two geological and environmental units of the southwest of the Castilian-Leonese plateau on the banks of the Tormes river. On the one hand, to the north and east, the Tertiary sedimentary basin, characterized by extensive plains dedicated to dry farming; on the other, the peneplain of the Paleozoic socket to the south and west, where an ecosystem of oak groves and pastures known as Campo Charro predominates, mostly dedicated to livestock. The city is located at an altitude of 800 meters above sea level. The altitude of the municipality varies from 911 meters (Los Montalvos), in the southwest, and 763 meters in the last stretch in the municipality of the Tormes river. The municipality of Salamanca is crossed by two surface watercourses: the Tormes river and the Zurguén stream, the latter a tributary of the river on its left bank. The valleys of the two watercourses are characterized by alluvial type materials, considered as permeable. The water table is very high, which sometimes gives rise to waterlogged areas. The Tormes river articulates the entire provincial territory and has had a decisive influence on the historical development of the city. Its middle course is regulated by the Santa Teresa Reservoir which also fulfills the function of supplying drinking water and irrigation. Its regulation was also intended to prevent its numerous floods, such as the historic ones that occurred in 1256 and 1626, although it did not succeed, in that they have been reiterated…

Most-observed species

• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  5,625
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  5,188
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,587
• Spotless Starling

  Sturnus unicolor Temminck, 1820 · Aves
  4,275
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  4,082
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  4,008
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,283
• Black Redstart

  Phoenicurus ochruros (S.G.Gmelin, 1774) · Aves
  2,999

Most recent

• M 2.9 — 2005-10-16
  1 km SW of Carbellino, Spain
• M 3.5 — 2004-06-14
  2 km ESE of Villaseco de los Reyes, Spain
• M 3.4 — 2004-01-30
  5 km NE of Villalcampo, Spain
• M 3.1 — 2003-09-21
  2 km E of Villalcampo, Spain
• M 3.2 — 2003-07-27
  3 km NE of Villalcampo, Spain
• M 3.7 — 2003-07-27
  4 km NE of Villalcampo, Spain