History in Salamanca

Introduction

Salamanca famous for its university and grand architecture has a long prestigious history and you can find out more now as we unwind the origins of this important Spanish city. It was first known as Helmantika and it was the 4th century BC that it was inhabited by the Celts though as the story generally goes in Spain the Romans were to soon take over and due to its location it became a vital city for the Roman empire.

One notable construction came in the form of a road named the 'Road of silver' and the name of the city was changed to the familiarly sounding name Salmantica to what is known as today. It wasn't until the 5th century that the Romans finally lost their grasp of the city and it was then taken over by Germanic tribes known as the Visigoths.

Though the remains left have been the evidence in suggesting that it wasn't a prosperous point in Salamanca's history, this was to soon change as the Moors took over and the Christian lifestyle became influenced and changed to Islam. The Moors weren't able to do much with the city because there were several attacks during their period of control.

During the 11th century Raymond de Bourgogue was in charge and the Roman Cathedral began its construction and the City was repopulated and the 13th century soon brought the turning point to Salamanca it needed. The Christian Reconquest occured during this period and one of the significant developments to come from it was the construction of the university of Salamanca, the university had brought many important characters such as Miguel de Unamuno.

The next period was known as the golden age and there was an abundance of intelligent artists and writers who would circulate the streets some of these included Francisco de Quevedo, Vicente Espinel and Francisco de Salinas. Spain then experienced the War of Independence which hit their financial resources hard but positives were taken from the battles such as the battle of Arapiles in 1812 defeating the French forces.

It also started to encourage the development of essential structures for growth, for example the railway system. During the spanish civil war Salamanca became the focal point of information as any information was sent there and is now an interesting side note for the city, ever since the end of the war Salamanca has grown in so many ways whether it be economically or culturally.

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