[Photo: Plaza Mayor, Salamanca, Spain]
Wikipedia:
The Plaza Mayor (English Main Plaza) in
Salamanca, Spain is a large plaza located in the center of Salamanca, used as a
public square. It was built in the traditional Spanish baroque style and is a
popular gathering area. It is lined by restaurants, ice cream parlors, tourist
shops, jewelry stores and a pharmacy along its perimeter except in front of the
city hall. It is considered the heart of Salamanca and is widely regarded as
one of the most beautiful plazas in Spain.
In 1988, UNESCO declared the old city of
Salamanca a World Heritage Site. Today, there is a plaque placed in the center
of the plaza marking its significance to boast the plaza's baroque-style beauty.
Salamanca is known as La Dorada, "The Golden City" because of the
glow of its sandstone buildings, which the Plaza Mayor represents at its core.
Rick Steves’ Europe:
Salamanca’s many students help keep prices
down. The young people congregate under the stars until late in the night,
chanting and cheering, talking and singing. Over the centuries, the
university’s poorer students earned money to fund their education by singing in
Salamanca’s streets: a tradition called “tuna music.” The name tuna, which has
nothing to do with fish, refers to a vagabond student lifesyle and later was
applied to the music these students sing. This 15th- to 18th-century tradition
survives today as groups of students, dressed in the traditional black capes
and leggings, sing and play mandolins and guitars, serenading the public in the
bars on and around the Plaza Mayor. While they make their serious money
performing for weddings on weekends, you’re likely to see them out singing for
tips on summer week nights.
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