Visit the Clerecía Towers

This is a regular activity in our section. In this case, it took place on the 17th and on the 24th of september. We gathered a group of Erasmus student interested in cultural turism and gave them the opportunity to visit of the Clerecía Towers for free with some of our volunteers. Here is a brief description of the visit: Scala Coeli gives visitors an opportunity to discover the interior of the Colegio Real de la Compañía de Jesús. Work on the building that is today home to the Salamanca Pontificate University began in 1617, upon the orders of Queen Margarita of Austria and Felipe III, as the main Jesuit training centre, graduates later being sent to the Americas and to protestant countries in central Europe. It is a wonderful display of Baroque architecture, of particular note the Escalera Noble (noble staircase) and particularly the magnificent Patio Barroco (Baroque Courtyard) surrounded by a two-storey cloister. The tour includes access to the Women’s or Public Gallery, whose balconies lead into the Real Clerecía de San Marcos, a wonderful spot from which to marvel at the upper altar and its magnificent Baroque altarpiece. This part of the building is divided into three halls. In the first of these, under the heading “El principio y el fin” (The beginning and the end), visitors will be able to gaze at portraits of Margarita of Austria and Felipe III, as well as documentation about the founding of the Colegio Real de la Compañía de Jesús. The second hall is dedicated to the construction of the building. A third hall focuses on the “nuevo renacer” or new birth. The tour continues with a climb up the stairs to the church’s two towers. The climb up the stairs, known as the bell-ringer (Campanero), fully restored, uses both light and sound to set the atmosphere for visitors. High in the transept between the towers, visitors get a unique vision of Salamanca, with spectacular perspectives of the historic centre of this World Heritage city.