Salamanca - Old Cathedral Catedral Vieja

The 12th century Cloister was badly damaged in the 1755 earthquake and rebuilt from 1785 onwards, so that little Romanesque work is left. Among Romanesque features that survive are the Mudéjar-style Capilla de Talavera, with sculpture by Alonso Berruguete and the tomb of the founder (owner of the Casa de las Conchas), and the 14th century Capilla de Santa Bárbara, in which candidates for the doctorate spent the night before their final examination and appeared before their examiners.

In the principal apse is a monumental retablo with 53 scenes from the life of Christ and the life of the Virgin. Like the large fresco of the Last Judgment in the vaulting of the apse, it was the work of Nicol Ás Florentino (1445 onwards). In the center of the retablo is a 12th century statue of the Virgen de la Vega, plated with bronze and decked with precious stones. In the Capilla de San Martín, in the tower, are wall paintings, which, like those in the aisles, show French influence.

The Diocesan Museum, in the former chapterhouse, which contains fine works by Fernando Gallego ("Virgin with the Rose" triptych, "Coronation of the Virgin"), a triptych by Juan de Flandes, a 13th century ivory figure of the Virgin and a Renaissance organ from the University.