SALAMANCA WALLS INTERPRETATION CENTER

The city walls constitute one of the most significant elements in the city's history. The origin of Salamanca lies in the settlement documented on San Vicente Hill, where as early as the 8th century BC, a first defense was erected to protect its inhabitants during the First Iron Age.

From the 4th century BC, the population moved to Teso de las Catedrales, where the Salmantica hillfort developed. The inhabitants of the hillfort built a monumental wall that defended the city between the 4th century BC and the Roman conquest. The sections discovered to date allow for defining its perimeter. It had a length of approximately 1.6 km. and enclosed an area of about 17 hectares. Its gates were defended with towers, and in the most accessible places, it was reinforced with a ditch excavated in the rock.

With the arrival of the Romans, the city of Salmantica was integrated into the province of Lusitania. The presence of some repurposed elements in the medieval defenses - well-squared granite ashlar stones - leads researchers to believe that these are remains of Roman-era walls. With the crisis of Late Antiquity and the Germanic and Muslim invasions, the city and its walls entered a long period of decline.

At the beginning of the 12th century, after the conquest of Toledo by Alfonso VI (1085) and the beginning of the city's repopulation, the so-called Cerca Vieja (Old Enclosure) was erected, an enclosure of about 24 hectares that included five main gates —Puerta del Sol, Puerta de San Sebastián, Puerta del Río, Postigo Ciego, and Puerta de San Juan del Alcázar— and several smaller posterns. The city was organized into colaciones - neighborhoods linked to parishes - where different groups of repopulators coexisted. Each left its mark on the urban fabric, with synagogues, churches, and markets, which gave Salamanca great cultural diversity.

The demographic growth and the arrival of new settlers necessitated the expansion of the walled enclosure. In 1147, by order of Alfonso VII, the construction of the Cerca Nueva (New Enclosure) began, which was completed in the 13th century. This new wall, covering more than 110 hectares and featuring thirteen gates, integrated the suburbs that had been left outside the first perimeter. The gates, in addition to allowing access, functioned as customs and health control points, especially during epidemics. However, over the centuries, with advances in warfare machinery, the walls became obsolete and lost their defensive function. It was even permitted for houses and stables to be built against their walls, occupying the patrol path.

The French occupation at the beginning of the 19th century and the bombardments by Wellington's army left the wall in a ruined state. Finally, in 1868, its demolition was authorized. This paved the way for modern expansion, and the space occupied by the walls was transformed into large avenues and promenades, such as San Vicente, Avenida de Carmelitas, Avenida de Mirat, and Paseo de Canalejas.

Today, only some sections and one gate -Puerta del Río- are preserved, and emblematic areas, such as the confluence of San Pablo street with Paseo Rector Esperabé, have been rehabilitated. Recent rehabilitation has allowed the original appearance of some medieval wall sections to be recovered and transformed into a tourist and cultural attraction.

Archaeological work carried out in 1999 brought to light the widest section known to date of the defensive enclosure from the Second Iron Age. A broad sequence of occupation in this part of the city was also documented, dating from the 4th century BC until well into the Roman era. The tour is structured into four areas, where, through panels and interactive screens, we can learn about the construction stages of the walls of Salamanca:

1.- Entrance Hall The entrance hall is a viewpoint that allows us to contemplate the two walls discovered in the archaeological excavations carried out on this site in 1999: the Iron Age wall (castreña wall), built about 2400 years ago, and, adjacent to it, the medieval wall or Cerca Vieja from the 12th century. The Cerca Vieja runs parallel to and partly overlaps the pre-Roman wall. A screen explains the remains discovered during the archaeological excavations carried out on the site.

Here, several infographics tell us about the symbolic value of the walls and show us, in summary form, the successive defenses the city had throughout its long history.

2.- Wall Corridor On the signs located on the left wall, visitors are informed about the two settlements that existed on the site of ancient Salamanca during the first millennium BC. The settlement of Cerro de San Vicente, corresponding to the Soto de Medinilla Culture, and the pre-Roman hillfort (castro) located on the Teso de las Catedrales from the 4th century BC.

This corridor runs parallel to the pre-Roman wall. The hillfort settlement, located on the so-called Teso de las Catedrales, controlled the ford of the Tormes river over which the Romans later built the Roman Bridge. The inhabitants of the hillfort built a monumental wall that defended the city between the 4th century BC and the Roman conquest. The sections discovered to date allow its perimeter to be gradually delimited. It had a length of approximately 1.6 km and enclosed an area of 17 hectares. Its gates were defended with towers (cubos) and in the most accessible places, it was reinforced with a ditch excavated in the rock. Here, 32 meters of this defensive enclosure, running north-south, are preserved. The section we see from the interpretation center corresponds to the internal face of the pre-Roman wall, as the external face was hidden when the medieval wall was built over it in the 12th century. It was an imposing defense whose width varied between 3.5 and 7m. It is built with irregular sandstone blocks, and the maximum preserved height is 2.90 m.

3.- Main Room The signs show the evolution of the city and its walls from the medieval repopulation in the 12th century to the Napoleonic fortifications of the early 19th century. A large panel recreates what the pre-Roman hillfort might have looked like when it was conquered by Hannibal in 220 BC. An episode narrated by the Greek historian Polybius who tells us: “… and the following summer, turning again against the Vaccaei, attacking it on the march, he seized Helmantiké.” With this quote, the first written reference to our city, Salamanca entered history. The main room features two interactive screens with explanations of each area.

• • The first screen offers three virtual tours: Ancient Salamanca, the Vía de la Plata (Silver Route), and the archaeological heritage along the banks of the Tormes.
• • The second displays, through photos and videos, the fortifications of the province: pre-Roman, medieval, modern, and contemporary. In this room, some archaeological remains (circular millstone, ashlar stone, and Roman inscriptions) and replicas of Celtiberian pottery are displayed.

4.- Don Gregorio Hotel Garden The grated gate located immediately below the Interpretation Center provides access to the garden of the Don Gregorio hotel. From inside, a well-preserved section of the external face of the Cerca Vieja can be seen. It is a 32-meter long section, at whose northern end a quadrangular tower, about 5m long, protrudes.

In the main hall, some replicas of objects found in the excavations carried out in Teso de las Catedrales are displayed:

• Reproductions of Celtiberian vessels
• Circular hand mills
• Ashlars with Roman inscriptions.