The most popular palace in Salamanca, not because it is the most beautiful, but because the shells of this house had symbolized the city in many cases. It is one of the best examples of Spanish civil Gothic architecture. It was built at the end of the 15th century and beginning of the 16th, by order of Don Rodrigo Arias Maldonado, affine to the Catholic Monarchs and knight of the Order of Santiago. The shells are the main ornamental motif of the facade.

One of the possible reasons why the shells are the ornamental element is the belonging of the Maldonado family to the Order of Santiago. Another possible reason is more romantic, pointing out that the repetition of the shells, a noble symbol of the Pimentel family, is a sign of Don Rodrigo’s love for his wife Doña María.

Today this space is a public library and an exhibition hall.