CHURCH OF SAINT JULIAN AND SAINT BASILISSA

Between San Julián Square and Sexmeros Square stands the church of San Julián. It was founded in 1107 by settlers from Toro in one of the neighborhoods that emerged outside the walls of the first medieval wall. In the middle of the same century, with the construction of the Cerca Nueva (New Wall), it was included within the new urban enclosure. With the parochial reform carried out at the end of the 19th century by Father Cámara, it was aggregated to the parish of Sancti Spíritus and, a few decades later, to that of San Martín. Today it is part of the Pastoral Unit of the Historic Center.
The current building is the result of a long series of reforms that have left very few vestiges of the primitive Romanesque church. The scarce preserved medieval remains allow us to deduce that it was a construction erected at the end of the 12th century. From that period, part of the northern wall, with its corresponding Romanesque portal, as well as the lower section of the tower, decorated with blind arches similar to those once found in the cathedral's bell tower, are preserved. The bell chamber, with semicircular openings, seems to correspond already to the 17th century.

At the end of the 16th century, a general remodeling of the temple was carried out. Its single nave was covered with very late Gothic ribbed vaults which, in the 18th century, were replaced by barrel vaults adorned with Baroque foliage.

Inside, the main altarpiece, from the mid-17th century, stands out. It houses the Gothic image of the Virgen de los Remedios, to whom great devotion was paid in the past and who came to be called “la Capitana” (the Captain), for being the patron saint of the provincial squadron. Behind the altarpiece is the Virgin's dressing room (camarín), added at the end of that century. It has rich pictorial decoration, which was carried out in the last years of the 17th century and early 18th century. Some of these paintings are the work of Manuel Peti.

The church guards the sepulcher of Doctor Ramos del Manzano, Count of Francos and professor of canon law at the University of Salamanca, who was tutor to King Charles II.

The current appearance of the church of San Julián is the result of numerous remodellings it has undergone throughout the centuries. Currently, the temple features a single nave, a polygonal apse housing the chapel (camarín) of the Virgin of Los Remedios, and a tower located at the foot of the building.

On the north facade opens a Romanesque door with a semicircular arch and two archivolts exquisitely decorated with zigzag motifs, buttons, and bundles of leaves. Above them, a dripstone adorned with finely carved acanthus leaves is placed. The shafts of the columns have disappeared, but the imposts of the capitals, decorated with vegetal motifs, are preserved. To the right, a very eroded capital shows quadrupeds joined by their legs. Above the door extends an eaves board whose cornice rests on five figured corbels: two with vegetal decoration, one with a feline head spewing stems, and two with human heads. Higher up, a high relief with a quadruped that could represent a lion can be seen.

At the foot of the temple stands the bell tower, which preserves from the original construction the lower body, articulated with semicircular arches, and a second level with two arrow slits on each side. The bell chamber was added in the 17th century.

The interior of the church houses a valuable artistic heritage, among which the main altarpiece stands out. The current altarpiece was executed in the mid-17th century following the designs of Jerónimo Sánchez. It is, among those preserved in Salamanca, the first to incorporate Solomonic columns. It is structured into three sections separated by these columns:

• In the central section, the first tier houses the Tabernacle, flanked by the images of the temple's patrons: Saint Julian and Saint Basilissa.
• Above it, in a large niche surrounded by cherubs, is the image of the Virgin of Los Remedios. The marked Marian orientation of the altarpiece responds to the deep devotion that the image of Our Lady of Los Remedios once aroused. The carving, in Flemish style, depicts the Virgin breastfeeding the Child Jesus. It is made of polychromed alabaster and dates from the late 15th century.
• In the side sections, two large niches house the figures of Saint Joseph and Saint Joachim.
• The attic is presided over by a magnificent canvas by José Antolínez, dated 1667, depicting the Immaculate Conception.

Behind the altarpiece is the Virgin's chapel (camarín), which acts as the temple's chancel. Its walls exalt Mary's role in the history of salvation through a profuse decoration that leaves hardly any space unornamented: symbols from the litanies and figures from the Old and New Testaments that point to the Virgin as the axis of redemption.

On the Gospel side, next to the chapel, is the sepulchre of Francisco Ramos del Manzano, first Count of Francos and preceptor to King Charles II. The tomb, made of polychrome marbles, houses his praying statue, a work by the sculptor Juan Rodríguez.

Among the other prominent pieces in the temple are the image of the Nazarene, attributed to José de Larra —brother-in-law of the Churriguera family—, the image of Saint Anne with the Child Virgin, the altarpiece of Saints Cosmas and Damian, and the Baroque sculptures of Saint Nicholas of Bari, Saint Peter of Alcántara, and Saint Anthony of Padua.

The interior also preserves the sandstone baptismal font, possibly the oldest element of the temple. Decorated with large segments, it could date from the 13th century. Perhaps from the 14th century is the image of the crucified Christ located on an altar at the foot of the church.