Salamanca is home to the oldest university in Spain and one of the oldest in all of Europe. There are records of the university having granted degrees as early as 1134. However, it received the royal charter of foundation in 1218, making it possibly the fourth, or even the third, oldest European university in continuous operation. Salamanca was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Its beautifully preserved, fine examples of gothic, renaissance, mudéjar, plateresque and baroque architecture are evocative of Spain’s glorious past: its ‘Golden Age’.