The Collegiate Church of Santillana del Mar

Santillana del Mar is the capital of a municipality of 4000 inhabitants. The population works largely in the agriculture and tourism sectors.

In the 9th century, Cantabria’s first and most important exponent of Romanesque art, the Santa Juliana Monastery village, was already present. Later this would become the prestigious Collegiate Church of Santa Juliana in the 12th century. The church and its beautiful cloisters (built between the end of the 12th century and the beginning of the 13th) became the nucleus around which a population grew, prospering in economic splendour – evident from the wealth of the numerous mansions and palaces that make up this village .

Santillana Zoo

Nature has also been generous in this municipality, which enjoys a magnificent coastline that encourages fishing as well as the calm Santa Juliana and Ubiarco Beaches. There is a charming zoological park in the vicinity of the capital that is sure to delight both children and adults.

Santillana del Mar is without doubt one of the most appealing and most note-worth tourist stops in Cantabria, thanks to wealth of both history and nature.

The “Polychrome Ceiling”

The discovery of the Altamira Caves at the end of the last century sent a wave of controversy and shock through the era’s scientific community, which was initially reluctant to admit the true antiquity of the paintings (14,000 years old). The caves were unwittingly discovered in 1868 by Modesto Cubillas, through whom the caves’ first great promoter, Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola, came to learn of their existence. The most famous part of the caves, known as the “Polychromic ceiling” was not discovered until 1879, when Sanz de Sautuola visited the cave, accompanied by his daughter María.

During the century following the discovery of the caves, the massive flux of visitors started to worry the scientific community over a possible deterioration of the paintings. This provoked their closure in 1979, initially completely and later only partially, for the sake of preserving their contained treasures. Today, access to the caves is very limited which is why the Cantabrian government has constructed a museum and replica to allow the wider public to learn about and appreciate this remarkable site.

The “Neocueva” reconstructs the original cavern from the data obtained by archaeological and geological investigation, and the most modern topographical technology. The paintings have been copied with absolute loyalty to the originals, with the same technical procedures and the same natural colourings. High technology and artistic labour unite in this contemporary creation.