Our tour today was of the old University of Salamanca. This is what Salamanca is most known for. It was built/founded in 1218 and is the oldest university in Spain. It was really interesting to go through and see the different halls. My favorite was the library.
After the tour of the University, we had a lecture on Spanish Art, another Salsa dance lesson, then dinner. Needless to say, we were glad for the day to be over when we finally finished dinner and could relax. By relax I mean sit on the bed or at the desk and study or do homework. :)
Lunch: Pasta with ternera and red sauce.
Apparently we weren't supposed to take pictures of the star map, so consider this a treat! It's 1/3 of the actual ceiling that was transferred from the major school to preserve it. It wasn't being well preserved and that's why they only have 1/3 of it left.
Beautiful ceilings...
Classroom / meeting hall
This room was one of my favorites! It has the original seating that they used.
They talk about how they would be listening to lectures in the dark and the cold, trying to take notes...
Those tiny windows and candlelight were all they had! Those are some dedicated students!
More decorated ceiling...
The is one of the main rooms where they hold the graduation ceremonies and such.
More decorated ceiling... Each section of the building has it's own, distinct decoration...
It's one of my favorite parts of visiting all of the old sites... Amazing architecture!
This is called "la escalera a la sabiduria", or the stairway to wisdom, because it leads to the library.
Painted, mural ceilings.
Portraits of Carlos II and his wife.
Every little piece is filled with such amazing detail.
This is the arm of the bench!
This is the ceiling upstairs leading into the library.
Gated entrance to the library.
The library was my favorite part of the University. It was so amazing to see how well it has been preserved. There are over 125,000 books in the library and if you look closely, they are all numbered and are in order. This is the oldest university library in the world. It has 485 hand written books which were written before the invention of the printing press. Which is why it's under high security. We had to take our pictures through a glass barrier, but they still turned out pretty good!
The books on the shelves are behind chicken wire doors. :)
Rodd's panorama of the library.
Graduation robes.
Afterwards, we had a lecture on Spanish art and another salsa dance lesson. These are always fun. :)
Dinner: Tapas.
The restaurant we have to eat at every day is okay, but their tapas aren't like the
tapas we like to get around town. Needless to say, it wasn't anything special.
