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This Gothic-style structure was built on the orders of Pope Luna in the years 1415-1433. In 1529, the main façade was built between two buttresses and is the archetype of the style that has become known as Plateresque (Plata, Spanish for silver, denoting the style's resemblance to silver filigrees). Five decorative vertical lines of decorative stonework rise through three horizontal registers. Prominently displayed in the first register, immediately over the twin doors with their basket-handle arch surmounts, is the medallion depicting the Catholic Monarchs holding a single sceptre, in representation of the unity of Spain. Visible above their heads are the yoke and arrows symbols of the monarchy, and running round the border is an inscription engraved in Greek that reads: The monarchs for the university and the university for the monarcha. Ferdinand, Elisabetha. The University of Salamanca dates back to 1218, which makes it the third oldest university in Europe.
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Western Europe
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