Spotting frogs and astronauts in Salamanca
It was Saturday afternoon. The entrance to Salamanca’s University was packed. Packed with tour groups like the one I was in and other visitors craning their necks to inspect the detailed facade of the graceful stone building. The facade is a feast of mythical creatures, archbishops, kings and queens, busts and skulls, decorative foliage, coats of arms. It warrants a good inspection. It’s a fascinating scene. But there was something specific people were searching for.
A frog. Una rana.
The frog is considered a good luck charm. If, only if, you can spot it without assistance. It doesn’t count if you have help. Some hopeful students search for it before an exam. Other people for life events like if they want to be married within the next year. Or to guarantee a trip back to Salamanca.
Even with some directional indications from my guide I still couldn’t detect the slippery frog. How hard can this be? you may wonder. That’s what I thought until I saw the facade.
Like I said, there is a crazy amount of intricate carvings in this Golden City. And this facade is jam packed. It’s dizzying.
I returned Sunday morning for a second attempt. This time the area was empty except for a woman selling frog trinkets (more than good luck, the little frog has become a popular gimmick for souvenirs of Salamanca). I would like to say I found the frog on this second attempt alone in the courtyard, goaded on by the mechanical croak of the trinkets, rebbit rebbit. I didn’t. It wasn’t until the precise location was pointed out to me that I finally located the amphibious little bugger. Rebbit rebbit.
It’s ok. My exam taking days are long over.
Luckily you don’t have to be a student to tour the 800 year old university of Salamanca. It’s the oldest university in Spain and one of the oldest in Europe. Behind this fantastical facade are century old classrooms (aulas) and the oldest library in Europe. It’s also a popular place for foreign students to learn Spanish today. In fact, I met a guy from the U.K. at Mesón Cervantes who was in Salamanca for a 2 week intensive course.
Frog spotting turned out to be quite a challenge. I had a much easier time spotting an astronaut floating in space and a monkey eating ice cream on the New Cathedral. No joke, I am being quite literal. These unlikely personalities were carved into the west side of the New Cathedral at Puerta de Ramos. This door was huge (photo below), but these silly characters were close to the ground. I could stand in front of them. I didn’t even need to crane my neck.
You may be wondering, how were stone-carvers centuries ago aware of astronauts? It may be the “new” cathedral but keep in mind the “old” cathedral dated from the middle ages so “new” in this case is 15th century. It may have been the end of the Gothic period but space travel was a long way off. I learned the astronaut and ice cream loving monkey were added during a restoration in 1992. Cheeky restorers.
The lavish decorations are all over the cathedral. The photos below are another set of doors on the south side.
Frogs and astronauts add a little whimsy to these artistic masterpieces. But a big takeaway I learned from my guides is that the stone carvings all around Salamanca are imbued with meaning. We saw this in Plaza Mayor with the portraits of famous Spaniards. Also in Plaza Mayor, on top of the Town Hall four carved statues of women represent virtues: prudence, justice, courage, temperance. On the facade of a 16th century palace (Palacio de Salinas, photos below) the carvings teach morals like honesty and wisdom. Dragons are bad omens, lions represent passionate love while angels are pure. The carvings may be wild but full of intention.
One of my favourite moments in Salamanca was late Saturday afternoon when I visited the Convento de San Esteban, a Dominican monastery. In the early 1500s the Dominican Order outlined some of the first human rights, such as all humans are fundamentally equal and everyone has a right to be free. The facade, once again, was a feast for my eyes. Every square inch was covered in a flabbergasting amount stonework including the large triumphal arch in the centre. No doubt there was a story in these carvings but I had no guide at this point so I simply admired its beauty.
The exuberant facade was made even more brilliant by the setting sun. In the hour that I toured the peaceful cloister and sacred spaces of this monastery the sun had lowered in the sky. When I stepped back outside around 7 pm the angle of the sun was like a floodlight on the facade. A really flattering floodlight. The stone was glowing. The Golden City certainly lived up to its reputation in that moment. And I was feeling pretty lucky to be present in its luminosity.
No frog-spotting required.
