MUSEUM AND EXHIBITION SPACE TOUR

Inside the Cathedral, we find this rich museum, which has been assembled from the priceless collection the cathedral has amassed over its ten centuries of history. The museum’s first gallery features pieces from prehistoric times as well as various architectural elements from the cathedral. The second gallery is dedicated to liturgy, where visitors can admire key pieces such as a 12th-century crosier, a collection of processional crosses, and the breviary of Isabella the Catholic. In the third room, visitors can view important religious sculptures, and the exhibition then continues with sacred art taking center stage. Before concluding the visit, visitors enter the space that will most surprise them: the hidden Portico of Forgiveness, where, in addition to admiring the portico itself, you can watch an audiovisual presentation featuring a reproduction of the cathedral’s former main altarpiece, which was painted by Fernando Gallego in the late 15th century and of which no examples remain in the city today. This museum is open to visitors alongside the cathedral.

The Urinal Museum is dedicated to this household item, displaying more than 1,350 pieces from twenty-nine countries, in various styles, models, and designs, the oldest of which dates back to the 2nd century A.D. and is of Roman origin. This museum was founded thanks to a collector from Ciudad Rodrigo, José María del Arco Ortiz “Pesetos,” who devoted himself to acquiring pieces from all over the world by visiting antique dealers, hospitals, street markets, and other such places. Since the chamber pot is a hygiene item for daily use, it has been part of the history of “men, women, and children; kings and queens; ladies and maids; the nun, the bishop, the priest, and the sexton; the sick and the healthy,” and thus illustrates its evolution and use throughout history. This museum opened to the public in 2006 on the occasion of the “Las Edades del Hombre” exhibition in Ciudad Rodrigo, although this collection had already been displayed as a traveling exhibition at various locations throughout Spain and Portugal as early as 1991. The evolution that the chamber pot has undergone over the centuries and how it has adapted to different fashions and eras, socioeconomic levels of the population, ranks, social status, and specific needs—such as long journeys, for which portable models were also available. The pieces on display in this unique museum—all of which are documented and cataloged—are made of various materials, including ceramic, brass, clay, wood, porcelain, aluminum, glass, and iron; some even feature gold and silver inlays, while others are decorated with paintings or drawings. The Urinal Museum of Ciudad Rodrigo ranks among the ten most curious museums in the world and also holds a Guinness World Record for being one of the world’s most unique exhibitions. It is located on the first floor of the building.

An ethnographic and musical museum dedicated to the tradition of the Salamanca tamborilero, located in Ciudad Rodrigo on the grounds of the San Cayetano Diocesan Seminary. It was created as an initiative to promote the musical and folkloric traditions associated with the tamboril and the gaita, and houses materials and artifacts from local folklorist José Ramón Cid. According to sources consulted, the museum opened during Holy Week in 2024, continuing the educational focus of the previous exhibition, “Tamboril por Gaita,” held at the Palacio de los Águila. Its content focuses on traditional Charra culture and the legacy of the tamboril players, essential figures in the festivals, dances, and popular ceremonies of the province of Salamanca. The museum is located in Ciudad Rodrigo, a historic municipality in Salamanca and Castile and León, in a city designated a historic-artistic site due to its significant architectural heritage. The exhibition design also includes audiovisual resources and interpretive displays to explain traditional music and its social context. By type, it is an ethnographic and musical museum; the sources consulted do not provide a specific construction timeline for the museum itself, as it is housed in a pre-existing building that was formerly part of the seminary. It is currently located on the ground floor of the building.

The Seminary Science Laboratory in Ciudad Rodrigo is a historic 19th-century building located on the grounds of the Diocesan Seminary. It shares the building with the Tamborilero Museum and houses a fascinating collection of antique scientific instruments.

Located in the Cornejo Palace—now the Municipal Cultural Center—the exhibition on display here, drawn from the collection of J.R. Cid, brings this history to life through the documents that have survived to this day, including weapons, military maps, portraits, and letters…. These items help reconstruct the history of our region, the Land of Ciudad Rodrigo, between 1810 and 1812, with the aim of highlighting its significance in history during the War of Independence. It is no coincidence that the name Ciudad Rodrigo is inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris—a fact often considered a mistake on Napoleon’s part, as he underestimated the Spanish guerrillas and the allied troops under the command of the Duke of Wellington. In addition, the Municipal Cultural Center features a spacious hall for temporary exhibitions.

The Border Fortifications Route Interpretation Center is a heritage interpretation center dedicated to explaining the evolution of the historic defenses along the border between Salamanca and Portugal, with a special focus on Ciudad Rodrigo. It is located in Ciudad Rodrigo, in the province of Salamanca, within the city walls and next to the Conde and San Pelayo gates, directly connected to the city’s fortified enclosure. According to the tourism and cultural resources of Castile and León, the center is housed in the former guardhouses of these gates and offers an educational tour covering castles, city walls, and other fortifications in the region, from the Castro de Yecla de Yeltes to the bastioned enclosure of Ciudad Rodrigo, passing through the castle of San Felices de los Gallegos. The exhibition features informational panels, models, maps, weapons, and audiovisual materials, concluding at the San Pelayo guardhouse. The documentation consulted dates its creation to 1999, as part of the European project “Border Fortifications: Meeting Point,” promoted by the Castile and León Historical Heritage Foundation within the framework of Interreg II A Spain-Portugal, and notes its inauguration in October of that year. Its primary function is to contextualize the strategic importance of Ciudad Rodrigo as a border stronghold and to explain the historical evolution of its defensive systems. It is not a medieval monument in and of itself, but rather a museum facility located within a historic heritage setting. Therefore, its value lies in the interpretation of a long-standing fortified landscape, linked to the Middle Ages and the bastioned modernization of the border—a development particularly significant in the city’s military history.

Tradition has it that St. Francis visited Ciudad Rodrigo in 1214, staying at the convent of San Gil. Upon his return to Italy, he sent two Franciscan friars to Ciudad Rodrigo to found a convent on the very site where the convent in which he had stayed during his time in the city had been located. It was a large building; today, all that remains are the Centenos and Águilas chapels (for which the marvelous Calvary sculpture was created—a work by Juan de Juni that is currently housed in the National Sculpture Museum in Valladolid). It serves as a small museum where visitors can view both artifacts from the pre-Roman era of our city and region, as well as a series of explanatory panels detailing the layout and dimensions of the convent prior to its near-total destruction during the War of Independence.