Spain, North to South and back again, Part 3 Salamanca

Friday 17th October 2014

 Just downstream from the main road bridge over the River Duero is the old "Roman" bridge. Inverted commas because everything not new in Spain is "Roman". However, it just may be!
Pedestrians only these days but recommended as a great viewpoint before you explore the city itself which is, as usual, built on a bit of a hill up above the river.

 And, for the geologists, check this out - mafic rich enclaves in the granite the bridge is built of, some of which have feldspar phenocrysts within them. There's an interesting geological history!

 Not one, but two cathedrals: by the time the old cathedral, 12th C Romanesque style, was completed the city had outgrown it so a larger one was begun next door in the 16th C Gothic style and completed in the 18th C.  

Still on the bridge, a headless "porca" - ancient Celtic fertility idol, sculpted in granite. These are common in Portugal and the neighbouring areas of Spain.

 Inside  the new cathedral, I was fascinated by the tesselated floor, various patterns made up of blocks of slate, sandstone, granite etc, and biggish slabs, the repeats are around 45 cm or more across.

And a Spanish cathedral wouldn't be a Spanish cathedral without an opulent display of New World gold!

More flooring, this time very neatly regimented grave slabs.

 I've always been fascinated by vaulting and loved this dome in a side chapel. Reminds me of an octopus the way the ribs join and come down to where the tentacles would be.

 This little beast took my fancy too - he, and his mates, all little 10 cm chaps, are in the metal grille which surrounds a tomb.

Something else which took my fancy was these decorated beams from the Moorish period. Really like to do the beams in my sitting room like this but perhaps not a productive use of time!

Another dome, different style of vaulting for this one - how many ways can you vault a circular space? Liked the decorated ribs, specially the ones that look like a row of CDs.

 Obviously we aren't the only country that makes corn dollies - this lovely example was tied to the railings of a chapel.

 Another thing that is quite a feature of Spanish cathedrals is pipe organs - this one has an adaptation I've only seen in Spain (though that could by my lack of observation!) which is an array of horizontal pipes jutting out near the base.

This organ is older - some sort of medieval I suppose and the pipes are enclosed in a box of painted wooden panels.

However the really interesting bit in this photo is the crack running down the wall to its right - caused by the Lisbon earthquake in 1755. There's geology everywhere if you look!