The Old Library of the University of Salamanca is located in the Escuelas Mayores building and is the oldest library in Spain and Europe, founded in 1254 by Alfonso X the Wise, King of Castile and León.

Among the Library's holdings, numerous manuscripts and incunabula stand out, as well as the Archive of the University of Salamanca and many ancient books of extraordinary bibliographic value. Among the manuscripts preserved in the Library, the Liber Canticorum of Queen Doña Sancha, from the mid-11th century, and the Book of Good Love, by the Archpriest of Hita, are particularly noteworthy.

The Gothic-style entrance facade to the library is located in the upper cloister of the Escuelas Mayores building. It was carved in stone by the same artists who sculpted the facade of Salamanca's New Cathedral, and the iron grille placed next to this facade, intended to close off access to the library, dates from 1526.

The large room occupied by the library underwent a profound transformation in 1749, although other authors state that it was built in that year by the architect José Isidro following the designs of Andrés García de Quiñones and is covered by a lunette vault, polygonal at its ends.

Historic Library of the University of Salamanca.

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