Salamanca (redirected from Salamanca, Spain)

Salamanca, city, Mexico

Salamanca (sälämäng`kä), city (1990 pop. 206,275), Guanajuato state, W central Mexico. Chiefly an oil center, it also serves as the commercial and distribution point for the surrounding agricultural region. The city lies on major national highway and rail systems. The first important battle between liberals and conservatives in the 19th-century War of the Reform (see Mexico) was fought at Salamanca.

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Salamanca, city, Spain

Salamanca, city (1990 pop. 162,037), capital of Salamanca prov., W central Spain, in Castile-León, on the Tormes River, c.2,600 ft (790 m) above sea level. Food-processing and tourism are its most important industries. An ancient city, it was taken by Hannibal in 220 B.C. The Moors were driven out in 1085. Salamanca became world famous after the foundation (1218) of its university by Alfonso IX. The university soon rivaled Bologna, Paris, and Oxford, and it made Arabic philosophy available to the Western world. In the late Middle Ages and throughout the Renaissance, Salamanca was the center of Christian Spanish cultural life and the fountainhead of Spanish theology. In the Peninsular War the city was in part demolished (1811) by the French. It was (1937–38) the capital of the Insurgents in the Spanish civil war. Salamanca is rich in architectural interest; there is a Roman bridge in the city. The Plaza Mayor is among the finest colonnaded squares in Spain. Adjoining the old Gothic cathedral (12th cent.) is the imposing new cathedral (1513–1733), in which the Gothic, plateresque, and baroque styles are combined. The university building (15th cent.) has a richly adorned facade and possesses a library with precious manuscripts. There are many splendid palaces, notably the Casa de las Conchas, named for the scallop shells on its facade, and the Casa de la Salina, with a picturesque patio.

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Salamanca

 ancient Salmantica or Helmantica

City (pop., 2001: 156,368), western Spain. An important Iberian settlement, it was sacked by Hannibal in 217 BC. It later became a Roman station. Captured by Moors in the 8th century, it was reconquered by Christians from 1087 to 1102. It was occupied by the French in the Peninsular War (1808–14). It is a cultural centre as well as the commercial centre of an agricultural district. Its many landmarks include the 12th-century Romanesque cathedral, the Gothic-style cathedral (begun 1513), and the University of Salamanca (founded 1218).

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Salamanca

a city in W Spain: a leading cultural centre of Europe till the end of the 16th century; market town. Pop.: 157 906 (2003 es