Salamanca - Main Sights - Palaces and Palatial Houses

Palaces and Palatial Houses

• Casa de las Conchas: built in the late 15th century. of Gothic civil style, its façade is decorated with about 350 shells of scallops, distinctive of the Order of Santiago. Also important are the bars Gothic windows. It currently houses a public library.
• Casa de Don Diego Maldonado: 16th-century Plateresque palace. It houses the Hispanic-Brazilian Cultural Foundation and the Centre for Brazilian Studies at the University of Salamanca.
• Casa de Doña María la Brava: 15th-century Gothic building, prototype of the noble mansions of the time. Its owner, María Rodríguez de Monroy was the head of one of the two sides in that split the city in the 15th century. Beheaded the murderers of her children. It is located in the Plaza de los Bandos.
• Casa Lis: Art Nouveau palace of 1905 with iron façade. Built on the walls. It houses the Collections of Art Nouveau and Art Deco donated by Manuel Ramos Andrade.
• Casa de las Muertes (early 16th century), built by Juan de Álava and named such for the skulls that decorate the façade.
• Casa del Regidor Ovalle (18th century): The Spanish writer Miguel de Unamuno died here.
• Casa de Santa Teresa (16th century): The saint Teresa of Ávila stayed here when she visited Salamanca in 1570 to found a convent and here she wrote the poem Vivo sin vivir en mí.
• Casa de la Tierra (15th century): doorway with arched, Gothic window tracery. Headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Salamanca.
• Casa de las Viejas (17th century): old workhouse for poor, now the headquarters of the Regional Film Archive of Castile and León. Permanent exhibition of equipment related to cinema and its history, owned by Salamancan filmmaker Basilio Martín Patino.
• Fonda Veracruz : courtyard with wooden galleries in form of dead-end street. Currently catering school.
• Arias Corvelle Palace (15th century): sgraffito façade very similar to that of San Boal. It houses the School of Fine and Performing Arts of San Eloy.
• Castellanos Palace (15th-16th centuries): The Palace of the Marquises of Castellanos construction began in the late 15th century, although the façade dates from the late 19th century which combines Gothic and Neoclassical styles. With a powerful Gothic interior courtyard, this building now serves as a hotel.
• Garci Grande Palace (16th century): Renaissance doorway and chamfered corner windows unique in the city. Head Office of the Savings Bank (Caja Duero).
• Monterrey Palace: was built in the 16th century and is of plateresque style. Belongs to the House of Alba and highlight its towers and chimneys. Only it built one of the four parts that composed all designed initially.
• Orellana Palace (16th century): building of classical architecture with Mannerist influence. The courtyard in L shape and the ladder.
• Rodríguez de Figueroa Palace (1545): has interesting façades at the streets Concejo and Zamora and interior courtyard. Today the Salamanca Casino.
• La Salina Palace (1546): Renaissance, work by Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón. Since 1884 is the headquarters of the Provincial Diputation.
• San Boal Palace (15th century): façade decorated with sgraffitos. Was School of Commerce and later Faculty of Business. Since 1999 is Hispanic-Japanese Cultural Center of the University of Salamanca. In the same square is the Iglesia de San Boal (17th century).
• Solís Palace (15th century): In this palace were married Philip II of Spain and Maria Manuela of Portugal in 1543. Today it houses the Telefónica.
• Tower del Aire: is all that remains of the Palace of the dukes of Fermoselle, built in the 15th century. It has beautiful Gothic windows. It is currently a student residence.
• Tower del Clavero (15th century): remains of a palace, apparently built by Francisco de Sotomayor, Clavero Staff of the Order of Alcántara, about 1470 . The lower part is quadrangular, while the upper is octagonal adorned with eight cylindrical turrets.
• Torreón de los Anaya (15th century): old manor house of Gothic civil style which highlights the mullioned window and the Patio de Tres Lados. For years it was the seat of Institute of Studies of Latin America and Portugal of the University of Salamanca, also known as Palacio de Abrantes.