The cathedral façade and the Patio Chico

Salamanca kept its Romanesque cathedral and built a Gothic one against it, so the two share a wall and read as one enormous building. The west front of the new cathedral is the set piece: a flat wall of pale sandstone covered edge to edge in carving, deep enough that the relief throws its own shadows through the afternoon.

This is also where the jokes are. A 1992 restoration added an astronaut and a gargoyle eating an ice cream to the Puerta de Ramos, both at eye level from the small square in front — visitors hunt for them, and they photograph well as a detail.

The Patio Chico, behind and to the east, is the quiet alternative: a small stepped square where the Romanesque tower, the dome known as the Torre del Gallo and the Gothic buttresses stack together with almost nobody in the way. It is the best spot in the old town for a couple to stand and have the architecture do the work.

The façades are public and free at any hour. Entering the cathedrals, climbing the towers on the Ieronimus route or visiting the cloister all need a paid ticket with set opening times — check them if the session includes an interior. The west front faces roughly west, so late afternoon is when the carving lights up.