Last updated September 2022
Salamanca is a city of towers – not modern apartment blocks, office blocks or radio towers – I mean the towers of churches, cathedrals and universities. Before you go, you will read about how Salamanca is a historical city but only when you arrive and start walking around will you realise how truly historical and beautiful it really is.
I spent a lot of my time in Salamanca looking up, I almost got a crick in the neck! Almost all the buildings in Salamanca are richly decorated so it is worthwhile to look up and try to appreciate all the details. It makes a very nice change to be able to look down on all these beautiful buildings from some of the city’s towers! There are a lot of towers in Salamanca but the skyline of the city is mostly made up of Clerecía (its purple dome and two towers) and the cathedrals, especially the tower of the Old Cathedral.
Tower in Spanish is la torre, this is a useful word to know for this post!
The list of the best towers of Salamanca is as follows and it is in order of my preference:
- Scala Coeli – the twin towers of the Clerecía
- Ieronimus – the tower of the Old Cathedral (La Catedral Vieja)
- Torre del Marqués de Villena – tower by the Cave of Salamanca
Scala Coeli
These are my favourite towers in Salamanca, both for their beauty and for the wonderful views they offer of the city. This is one of the first places I went to when I was in Salamanca. I went one evening after my classes, took my time and really enjoyed it. As it was January, I was alone in the towers and was able to really appreciate the views.
It is a little confusing to understand the difference between the Pontifical University (Universidad Pontificia), the church (Clerecía) and the two towers (Scala Coeli). The university, church and towers are all connected so you can visit them together or separately. You can just visit the towers if you are only interested in the views but if you have the time then I recommend visiting all three – a combined ticket is only €6. The tour is only offered in Spanish but it is still very interesting to see more of the university, it is beautiful as I hope you can see from the photograph above. The university is not as old as the University of Salamanca (Universidad de Salmanca) that was founded in 1218 but it is still fairly old, built in the early 1600s by Juan Gómez de Mora.
Note: The University of Salamanca is the oldest in all of Spain.
On the climb up to the twin towers, you are in charge: you decide if you want to read all the information on the way up and then when you arrive you must decide if you want to go into the two towers or just one of them. And then you must choose if you want to go all the way up to the top of the towers or not. To do this, you must climb the steps in the wooden tower within the tower, see photograph below.
If you do go all the way up, then as well as admiring the city you can admire the architecture of the towers themselves. Andrés García de Quiñones designed the towers; he was an important man in the city as he also designed Salamanca’s Town Hall (Ayuntamiento) in the Plaza Mayor and the courtyard (Claustro de Estudios) of the Pontifical University, as photographed above. These works by Andrés García de Quiñones are all Baroque (Barroco) in style. His Claustro de Estudios is one of my favourite courtyards in Salamanca, which is high praise as Salamanca has a plethora of beautiful courtyards and cloisters.
There are quite a lot of stairs in order to reach the towers but there are plenty of areas to take breaks so it is never too tiring. And the ascent is never too narrow, only in the wooden tower below, but that is completely optional, you can enjoy excellent views of the city without going all the way up to the top. Out of the three towers I would rank this one in the middle in terms of difficulty.
TIP: From the upper courtyard of Casa de las Conchas (Shell House), just across the road, there is a very good view of the two towers.
Address:
Calle Compañía 5, 37008, Salamanca
Website:
http://torresdelaclerecia.com/
Social media:
Opening times:
Winter hours (December to February)
Monday to Sunday: 10:00 – 18:00 (the last entrance is at 17:15)
Summer hours (March to November)
Monday to Sunday 10:00 – 20:00 (the last entrance is at 19:15)
Note: it is possible to visit the towers at nighttime but I don’t know the details for this.
Admission fee:
€3.75 or €3.25 (for groups over 20 people)
€6 for an adult ticket to the twin towers, church and Pontifical University
Free on Tuesday 10:00 – 12:00
Ieronimus
You can’t escape the shadow of this tower when you are in Salamanca! Really, it is everywhere and it is undoubtedly one of the most photographed attractions in Salamanca. It is stunning.
The name confused me for a long time, I couldn’t guess what it meant. Now I know that it is so called because of a bishop called Jerónimo de Perigueux.
There are many areas to stop on the way up to the top of the tower and many viewing platforms, you can look out over the city and can also admire the various parts of the cathedral buildings, such as Cockerel Tower (La Torre del Gallo). There are many points of information on the journey up which are interesting to read. Similarly to climbing Scala Coeli, you are in control. You can go higher and higher or you can decide to turn back. If you go to the highest tower then you might need to wait a while to come back down again! There is a Stop/Go system which is actually an incredibly clever idea as it saves the very awkward and potentially stressful situation of when those going down bump into those trying to go up. You must wait by the door until you see the green light and then you can continue on your way either up or down.
I would rank this tower as the most difficult of the three. There are a lot of stairs and it is a bit narrow in places. However, it is still worth a visit as you don’t have to go all the way up to the top, you can climb to one of the lower platforms and still enjoy lovely views of the city.
TIP: You could just go up the tower and not enter the cathedrals at all, your climb takes you inside the cathedrals, but up high. You have amazing views of the interior of the cathedrals but you miss out on walking between the huge columns and miss the audio guide. If you have the time and the funds then I suggest you do both but if you can only do one and aren’t afraid of heights then go for Ieronimus.
Address:
The entrance is at the base of the cathedral tower, through the door in Plaza Juan XXIII
Opening times:
Winter times (January – February)
Monday to Sunday: 10:00 – 18:00
The rest of the year:
Monday to Sunday: 10:00 – 20:00 (last visit is at 19:00)
Website:
Social media:
Admission fee:
Adults: €4
I got in for free on Sunday evening but I don’t know if this is the same case every week.
Torre del Marqués de Villena
I grant you that this photograph is hardly going to inspire you to visit BUT this is a free tower with an interesting story behind it. The tower is named after one of the students who studied here under the tutelage of the devil himself. Yes, you are reading correctly, legend says that the devil taught students here and that one of the devil’s students was the Marquis Villena. They say that the devil took his shadow. Different writers have referenced this, such as Cervantes and Rojas.
In addition to the tower, the Cave of Salamanca is also here – the cave was the reputedly the location of the devil’s classes. Part of the Old City Wall is also found here. There are some points of information about these sights in both Spanish and English.
The tower is very easy to climb, easier than the other two for sure. The views are surprisingly impressive for such an gentle climb, especially of St. Stephen’s Convent (Convento de San Esteban).
The tower is very close to the two cathedrals and to Huerto Calixto y Melibea, one of Salamanca’s most beautiful green spaces. You can read more about it HERE.
Address:
Cuesta de Carvajal, 37008, Salamanca
Opening times:
Monday to Sunday: 10:00 – 22:00
Admission fee:
Free
These are the best places to go for views of this beautiful city. They all have their advantages so if you want to choose only one to visit then it will depend on how much time and money you are willing to spend. And of course, on how much energy you are willing to expend!
