Plaza de Anaya (Anaya Square), Salamanca

The Anaya Square (Plaza de Anaya) was created in 1811, during the French occupation of the city in the Peninsula War. General Paul Thiebault, military governor of Salamanca, was residing at the Anaya Palace, once the College of San Bartolome. General Paul ordered the demolition of a group of buildings between the palace and the New Cathedral.

The General was apparently trying to improve lines of fire in the approaches to the palace. The houses were owned by the Council (Cabildo) of the New Cathedral. The buildings formed the streets of San Sebastian and Las Cadenas. Everything had to go. The result became an empty wasteland, at one time turning into a bocage of acacia trees.

The square, always pulsing with university life, is a great place to contemplate the New Cathedral. The site takes its name from the Anaya Palace. The square area as it existed before 1811 was known as the College Square (Plaza del Colegio) of the Old and New Cathedrals.

Renovations in 1910 and 1975 developed the present gardens of hedges, flowers, and Lebanese cedars. Visitors, entering from Rua Street (Calle de la Rua), are greeted by the square's enormous Sequoia tree, which seems to be almost as high as the tower of the New Cathedral.