Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
Centro Documental de la Memoria Histórica, Salamanca
Museum
The story
In 1937–38 the Nationalists set up a documents office in Salamanca to gather papers seized from Republican parties, unions, Masonic lodges and individuals — raw material for the repression, especially under the 1940 Law for the Repression of Freemasonry and Communism. The archive later became the General Archive of the Civil War, and in 2007 the Centro Documental de la Memoria Histórica. Its holdings now serve historians and relatives of victims of both sides. Catalan government papers held here were returned to Catalonia from 2006 after a long political dispute (the 'papeles de Salamanca').
What you can see today
A permanent exhibition including a reconstructed Masonic lodge room made from confiscated regalia and material on the documentation service; reading room for researchers.
Plan your visit
Exhibition free, usually weekday mornings and some afternoons — check the Ministry of Culture site; photo ID required for the reading room.
- Price
- Free
Checked September 2026 from official sources: archivoscastillayleon.jcyl.es, museoscastillayleon.jcyl.es, turismocastillayleon.com. Things change, so check before you travel.
Sources
- cultura.gob.es/cultura/areas/archivos/mc/archivos/cdmh/presentacion/sedes.html (address Calle Gibraltar 2; point placed from address, not a published coordinate)
- cultura.gob.es/cultura/areas/archivos/mc/archivos/cdmh/presentacion.html
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Archive_of_the_Spanish_Civil_War
Nearby sites
- Palacio Episcopal, Salamanca (Franco HQ 1936–37) · under 1 km
- Alto del León (south side), Guadarrama · 131 km
- Valle de Cuelgamuros (former Valle de los Caídos) · 132 km
- Blockhaus 13, Colmenar del Arroyo · 138 km
- Fresnedillas de la Oliva bunkers · 139 km
- La Granja offensive – the battlefield above La Granja (Cabeza Grande, Matabueyes) · 140 km
All 158 sites in Spanish Civil War 1936–1939 →
The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
A free field guide for your phone: the route, the maps and the stories built in, even with no signal. The battlefields, trenches, ruined villages, shelters, museums and memorials of the Spanish Civil War across the whole of Spain, told fairly from both sides.
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