FONSECA HALL OF RESIDENCE

Alonso de Fonseca III was one of the most influential figures of the 16th century in Spain. Son of Alonso de Acevedo II and María de Ulloa, Lady of Cambados, he studied at the University of Salamanca, where he began a meteoric ecclesiastical career. At just 33 years old, after his father's resignation from the archbishopric, he was appointed archbishop of Santiago de Compostela. Later, he served as Chief Chaplain to the Catholic Monarchs and, thanks to his good relationship with Charles V, he came to occupy the archbishopric of Toledo, the most prestigious ecclesiastical position in the kingdom. He died in 1534 in Alcalá de Henares, although his remains were transferred to Salamanca, where they rest in the chapel of the College he himself founded.

In addition to his political and religious role, Fonseca stood out as one of the great patrons of his time. He promoted important artistic works in Santiago de Compostela and Toledo, but it was in Salamanca where he left his deepest mark. Here he continued the work initiated by his father in the convent of the Ursulines, commissioning Diego de Siloé for the paternal tomb and Juan de Borgoña for the church's altarpiece.

His most ambitious project was the foundation of the Colegio de Santiago el Cebedeo, better known as Colegio del Arzobispo or Colegio de los Irlandeses. He conceived it as a charitable and university center for students without resources, and made it the universal heir to his assets, including his valuable library. Over time, the building also became the chosen place for his burial. Although it was intended for only twenty-two students —later reduced to thirteen—, the complex housed chaplains, service personnel, and other residents who formed a small community.

Construction of the college began before its official approval by Pope Clement VII in 1525. Already in 1518, the Franciscans had ceded the plot, and by 1519, the first structures were being erected. There is no consensus on the author of the project: some attribute it to Juan de Álava and others to Diego de Siloé, considering Álava as the executor of certain parts of the building. The possible intervention of Alonso de Covarrubias is also mentioned.

To the north of the college, the first hospedería (guesthouse) was erected in 1558, enlarged and transformed at the end of the 18th century. The current facade of the guesthouse was rebuilt in 1740 according to a design by Alberto de Churriguera, although the execution was carried out by Andrés García de Quiñones. Originally, it was intended to house students who, after completing their studies, remained in Salamanca awaiting a position or assignment in the administration. In 1901, the building came to house departments of the Faculty of Medicine and, in 1925, the anatomical amphitheater, a work by Santiago Madrigal, was added.

After the closure of the university colleges, the building served various functions. In 1801, during the War of the Oranges, it was used as a French military hospital, and shortly after, it became a General Hospital. After the Peninsular War, the property was occupied by Irish students, as the College of Irish Nobles of San Patricio had been destroyed during the conflict. During the Civil War, specifically from June 1937 to May 1939, the College was the seat of the German embassy.

Thanks to the efforts of Rector Esteban Madruga, the University managed to recover the building in 1936, when the Irish students definitively left the city. Once restored, the building was designated as a residence for university professors, guests, and distinguished visitors. Its spaces were adapted to modern needs, but always respecting and preserving the historical character of the complex.

The college complex follows the characteristic model of the great Renaissance educational institutions at the University of Salamanca: an autonomous building, organized around a large central courtyard, which articulates academic, religious, and daily life. Around this core are arranged the essential spaces of the complex, such as the chapel, the library, the dining hall, the entrance hall, the study rooms, and the students' rooms. Its construction was carried out in several phases, which explains the richness of architectural solutions and the mix of styles present in the College and Hostelry complex.

The main facade is one of the most monumental elements of the building. It stands on a large elevated atrium, which not only overcomes the unevenness of the terrain but also symbolically enhances the importance of the complex. This space, delimited by granite columns, acts as a kind of representative platform. The doorway introduces decisive innovations within the Salamancan Plateresque style, such as the use of the lintel instead of the traditional arch, in addition to the contrast between the golden Villamayor stone and the gray granite, which provides great chromatic richness.

The facade's decoration is particularly elaborate and symbolic. The first body is organized by means of engaged columns and a large lintel, accompanied by heraldic motifs and references to the building's Santiago tradition. The second body features a monumental window surrounded by sculptural figures, medallions, and allegorical elements linked to the founder and his lineage. The complex is topped with a large medallion of Santiago in the Battle of Clavijo, supported by winged figures, which reinforces the building's symbolic and propagandistic character.

The access leads to the entrance hall, a square-plan space that organizes circulation towards the main rooms. From it, one can access the chapel, the courtyard, and other dependencies. Its ceiling, a formally rich Gothic vault, and the inner doorway of the chapel, conceived as a triumphal arch with abundant Plateresque decoration, demonstrate the intervention of top-level masters such as Juan de Álava.

The chapel is one of the most important spaces in the complex. With a Latin cross plan and a single nave, it was built in two major phases. The first corresponds to the nave, erected in the 1520s and covered with star rib vaults. In a second stage, Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón intervened, who enlarged the chancel, added the transept, and raised the dome. Inside, the altarpiece commissioned from Alonso de Berruguete stands out, a masterpiece of the Spanish Renaissance that combines sculpture, painting, and relief with great expressive intensity.

The courtyard is one of the most outstanding spaces of the Spanish Renaissance and one of the most harmonious pieces of the complex. Designed by Juan de Álava following plans attributed to Diego de Siloé, it features a square plan and two levels of galleries with arches that alternate between semicircular on the ground floor and segmental on the upper floor. The decoration is especially rich, with balustrades of varied design, heraldic shields of the Fonseca family, and an impressive series of 128 medallions representing biblical, historical, and mythological figures. All of this turns the courtyard into an authentic iconographic program on virtue, knowledge, and prestige.

The complex is completed with the old guesthouse, initially built in the 16th century and renovated in the 18th century under the design of Alberto de Churriguera and the execution of Andrés García de Quiñones. This Baroque building expands the functionality of the complex and shows the historical evolution of the college, which has adapted to new needs without losing its original essence as a space for education, knowledge, and academic power in the city of Salamanca.

Under the name of The Measure of Time, the Fonseca College permanently houses a collection of popular clocks manufactured between 1800 and 1925, located in one of the corridors that provide access to the rooms. The exhibition belongs to Andrés Santiago Zarzuelo, a passionate collector who acquired clocks in European flea markets and restored them personally.

It offers a journey through the history of clock use during the 19th century, a key period in the evolution of their mechanisms, in which the mechanical clock became widespread and artisanal manufacturing gave way to mass production. The exhibition gathers 144 clocks of a wide variety of models —wall, table, grandfather, or alarm clocks— and very diverse styles (Romantic, Louis XVI, Isabelino, Second Empire, Biedermeier, or Victorian). Several particularly important series also stand out, such as the well-known 'bull's-eye' clocks and the 'Morez' clocks, which allow appreciation of the technical and aesthetic evolution of popular clockmaking.