The Cathedral of Santa María, known as the Old Cathedral, is one of the two cathedrals in Salamanca.

It is dedicated to Santa María de la Sede.

Construction began on the initiative of its first bishop, Jerónimo de Perigord, in 1120, after the diocese of Salamanca was restored by King Alfonso VI of León, and after the repopulation of the city carried out by his son-in-law Raimundo de Borgoña.

This was a time in which the Romanesque was giving way to the Gothic, something that is appreciable in the difference between the pillars and the starts of the ribbed vaults, since there is no constructive continuity between them, as the former were designed to support a barrel vault, completing this cathedral in 1236.

It was on the verge of being destroyed in the Modern Age, since when designing the New Cathedral it was thought of demolishing it, but the long period of time that elapsed since the beginning of the construction of the New Cathedral (around 1520) and the late Completion date (around 1733), as well as the need for a space to celebrate worship while construction was being completed, made the initial decision to demolish it was abandoned.

In this sense, in plan, the left nave appears narrower and is missing part of the arm of the transept, as a result of the construction of the New Cathedral.

It is a building with a basilica plan, in a Latin cross and three naves, a marked transept and a chevet formed by three semicircular apses, which show windows with semicircular arches to the outside.

Given the border character of Salamanca, it was also projected as a fortress, a quality now not so visible, since the battlements of the Mocha Tower have disappeared and the roof of the nave, previously a passable terrace, has been replaced by another made of Arabic tiles.

In the 19th century, faced with the danger of collapse, it was completely disassembled and profoundly altered, to the point of changing Gothic capitals, as corresponded to the advanced construction of other neo-Romanesque ones.