Casa de las Conchas, or the House of Shells, is a curious attraction in Salamanca, Spain. This stately mansion built between the late 15th and early 16th centuries has a façade covered with carvings of scallop shells, the symbol of the military Order of Santiago of which its first owner, Talavera Maldonado, was chancellor.

Construction of the house began in 1493, but Maldonado didn’t live to see its completion. After his death, the house was completed by his son Rodrigo Arias Maldonado in 1517.

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