SNOW WELL

The Carmelite Order was established in Salamanca at the beginning of the 14th century, initially settling in the area of the riverside gardens (huertas de la vega). After a flood destroyed their first house, the bishop granted them the parish of San Andrés in 1480.

The church of San Andrés was located in one of the suburbs on the banks of the Tormes, outside the Cerca Nueva (New Wall) and very close to the church of San Polo. It was a degraded urban environment, with unpaved alleys where tanneries, slaughterhouses, disreputable inns, and marginalized people coexisted. Added to this marginality was the presence of a stream, which collected black water and filth from the neighborhood and passed in front of the convent, flowing into the Tormes a few meters further on.

The church of San Andrés was a modest rammed-earth construction, with a wooden roof and a simple bell-gable for the bells. Around it, throughout the 16th century, the convent's dependencies were built. Pedro de Lanestosa and Juan del Ribero Rada worked on its construction. Saint John of the Cross resided in this college between 1564 and 1568

During the great flood of the Tormes on the night of Saint Polycarp in 1626, the convent was practically destroyed. Shortly after, it was rebuilt thanks to the family heritage of Father Juan de Orbea, provincial of the order in Castile. The designs, with floor plans and elevation, were made by Fray Alonso de San José and Fray Diego de la Encarnación, with works extending until 1651, the date on which the new building was consecrated.
Testimonies from those who knew it before its ruin and some engravings made during the War of Independence allow us to know that it was a large building, rectangular in plan and with towers at its four corners, showing clear influences of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

Unfortunately, nothing remains today of that magnificent construction. During the War of Independence, it was alternately occupied by both armies, causing severe damage. After the exclaustration of 1835 and the Desamortización (disentailment) of 1836, the convent was sold at public auction. Shortly after, in the 1850s, the so-called Carretera de Circuito (Circuit Road) was laid out, a section of the Madrid–Villacastín–Vigo road that passed through the remains of the church and cloister. The building's remains were used to smooth the slope leading up to the Espolón.

Of that entire complex, only three buildings erected in the 18th century have survived: the chapel of the Carmelite Third Order, a house of offices and stables, and the snow well. In the mid-20th century, the snow well was integrated into the Brufau textile factory, used for storing lace. In the 1990s, it was ceded to the Salamanca City Council. Given their generalized deterioration, the conserved structures were restored and incorporated into the city's tourist offer. The preserved remains have been integrated into a route that includes the snow well, a section of the wall, the sheds, the remains of the convent's northeast tower, and the underground galleries.

These remains, although anecdotal within the vanished monastery, possess great artistic and historical value. They are located on a trapezoidal plot of about 700 m², leaning against the medieval wall.

. Entrance and reception courtyard The tour begins at the main access point, a welcoming place for visitors and the first contact with the history of the old Carmelite Calced convent. Here, the importance of this enclave within the urban evolution of Salamanca is contextualized, especially from the 19th century onwards, when the Peninsular War and the Desamortización (disentailment) radically transformed the city's architectural and social landscape.

In this courtyard, an overview of the monumental complex is offered. Visitors discover how the convent, founded in the 15th century and rebuilt in the 17th century, came to be known as the “Salamancan Escorial” due to its monumentality. It is also explained how, after its abandonment and destruction, some elements—such as the ice well, the chapel of the Third Order, and the craft workshops—survived and today allow the reconstruction of the place's memory.

The Ice Well Upon crossing the access door, a map from 1784—the oldest preserved in Salamanca—places the visitor in the 18th-century city, showing the location of documented ice wells.

The well, built around 1738, was located in the eastern part of the convent. A causeway allowed access from the New Gate to its entrance, today evoked by a lattice that lets in filtered light. The interior is surprising for its depth—more than seven meters excavated into the rock—and for its spherical cap vault built with slate slabs and lime mortar. This depth ensured the necessary thermal insulation to preserve snow for months. On the lower level, the drainage gallery is preserved, designed to evacuate meltwater. The restoration of the well allowed for the recovery of the vault, the walls, and the lower gallery, now accessible to visitors thanks to careful cleaning and consolidation work.

The well initially supplied the convent's college, but it soon became an economic resource: it was leased, and after the exclaustration of 1835, it was sold. In the 20th century, it became part of the Brufau textile factory, where it was used as a warehouse for lace and trimmings.

The use of snow for medicinal purposes and food preservation has been known since ancient times, although ice wells became widespread from the 16th century onwards. In Salamanca, this activity was closely linked to convents and university colleges. Snow was brought mainly from the Sierra de Béjar, transported by mules or carts and compacted in alternating layers of snow and straw.

Garden and wall (New Wall) Upon exiting the well, one enters a garden of aromatic plants where an original section of the New Wall is preserved. Here, the evolution of Salamanca's walled enclosures over almost three millennia is explained: from the wall of Cerro de San Vicente in the Early Iron Age, passing through the pre-Roman wall that defended the Teso de las Catedrales from the 4th century BC, to the two medieval walls, Old Wall and New Wall.

Although the walls had lost their defensive function centuries ago, they were maintained for fiscal purposes until the 19th century. The section preserved next to the well survived the decree of demolition of the walls thanks to the intervention of the Monuments Commission. It is the only section that retains its original height, with battlements known as the 'seven picones'; it covered 110 hectares and had 13 gates.

Upper floor of the office building In 1717, annex service dependencies—the ice well and the outbuildings—were built in the eastern part of the convent, and these have been the only elements to endure. The building of the "outbuildings or offices" consisted of two floors. The upper one had to be almost entirely reconstructed. The intervention in this building recovers the historical volumetric through a brick lattice that reproduces the original layout and generates plays of light and shadow. The single-slope tiled roof refers to the primitive structure. In this space, two panels are displayed: one with the convent's floor plan and another with a 1915 lithograph by T. Mitchell, showing the southern facade and its four towers inspired by the Monastery of El Escorial.

Ground floor of the office building (Road Worker's House) Here, the original pavements have been recovered from a section preserved in situ. The panels explain the damage suffered by the convent during the Peninsular War, its sale after the Desamortización, and its definitive destruction with the opening of the Circuit Road. It was used until not many years ago as the road worker's residence.

Foundations of the northeast tower At this point, the foundations of the convent's northeast tower are preserved, whose last use was as a mechanical electricity workshop. From here, access is gained to the cellar that precedes the underground galleries.

Cellar: myths and legends A panel introduces visitors to the legends associated with Salamanca's underground spaces, which from the late Middle Ages fed the city's fame as a center of occult knowledge. Literature and travelers' tales spread the myth of the Cave of Salamanca, whose influence reached Hispanic America, where many caves adopted its name.

Underground galleries Beneath the outbuildings and the well, a network of sandstone-excavated galleries was discovered, approximately 75 meters long and 150 m² in area, located 13 meters deep. When discovered, they were flooded and filled with rubble, so it was necessary to access them through the ventilation shaft. Today, they can be explored via stairs and ramps. Their origin is uncertain, although they were probably used as cellars until the 19th century. Water action has left flowstones, carbonate salts, and small stalactites.

Well access gallery The tour concludes with the entrance to the well from the lower gallery, excavated into the rock to build and maintain the drainage channel and to facilitate the well's cleaning before storing snow.