Salamanca: the frog hidden at Spain's oldest university

Founded in 1218, the University of Salamanca is among Europe's oldest and made the city an intellectual center of the Spanish-speaking world. The famous hidden frog on the university's facade is part of this legacy.

The center, with the renowned frog hidden on the oldest Spanish university facade, can be comfortably visited on foot.

On the Plateresque facade of the University of Salamanca, a small frog is carved on a skull: student tradition holds that finding it alone brings good luck on exams.

A few steps away, Salamanca's two Cathedrals, the old Romanesque and the new Gothic-Baroque, stand side by side rather than one replacing the other.

Continuing, one reaches the House of Shells, a 15th-century palace whose facade is covered with about three hundred carved shells, the symbol of the Order of Santiago.

Towards evening, the Plaza Mayor, built in the 18th century and considered among Spain's most beautiful, fills with students and residents until late into the night.

Generations of students have searched for the university's hidden frog before exams: some claim finding it without help brings luck, while others consider it merely a legend passed down by tour guides.

Salamanca's two cathedrals share a common wall yet remain two distinct buildings, a rare case in Europe of two churches from different eras built side by side without ever merging into a single structure.