A little over twenty kilometres from Santander, where our cruise ship was docked, was the town of Santillana Del Mar, and following our visit to Comillas this is where we went for the second part of our day’s excursion.
Santillana Del Mar was a marked contrast in terms of architecture, with everything we saw feeling far more medieval with its warm-toned stone walls and cobbled streets. The name of the town comes from Santa Juliana and its origins date to the eighth century when monks brought relics of the saint to this location. Donations from wealthy people, land acquisition, and being located on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela all helped the town to grow through the Middle Ages. Despite a general uniformity in the buildings in we saw in Santillana Del Mar the ages of their construction varied widely, though.
Our guide gave us a little bit of an explanation about some of the initial buildings we passed that had some historical significance but this was largely a “look, it’s a pretty place and it’s got tourist shops” kind of visit. We didn’t have too much of a problem with that because it had been the earlier part of the tour that we’d been really interested in, and it was a pretty place, after all.
We had plenty of free time on our own to explore. While the photos here may show some steep and hilly-looking areas to the town we didn’t find it too taxing to get up and down. There had been rain before we’d arrived which gave the cobbled roads a sheen, but I don’t recall it ever feeling dangerous to walk on the surface. Something to consider with accessibility, though.
Our free time in Santillana Del Mar didn’t extend far enough to really allow us to visit anything. We wandered as far the Collegiate Church of Santillana, the former monastery where the religious relics are stored, but there was no opportunity to pop in that we could see so this trip ended up being one for the eyes rather than the brain.
On the walk back we popped into the grounds of a small museum dedicated to some of the works of sculptor Jesús Otero. Animals were his thing. That and helping rebels to hide when fighting fascism during the wars of the twentieth century.
A minor bit of activity was required at the end of the tour as our bus had been moved on by the police so our guide got me to lead everyone to where it was now waiting while he hung around for those inevitably late to return. I seem to get roped into this role more often than you’d think. I must look trustworthy with “that man has a good sense of direction” written in my expression too.
Another day might have been a completely different experience, but we didn’t feel that this part of the tour as a whole was that great. Santillana Del Mar is very pretty and has a lovely feel but from a cruise excursion perspective there wasn’t really a lot to see or do after you’d passed the first palatial house in the medieval town and after you’d passed the first tourist shop. We’d have liked more time to be able to visit some of the museums or churches, but there is that trade-off with trying to just a get a feel and some highlights of an area. So overall, for the contrast in architecture, we enjoyed the day spent in these two Cantabrian towns, but Comillas was our favourite for the dedicated look around Gaudí’s building.
In the next post in this Iberian peninsular cruise aboard Ventura we’ll return to Santander for the sail away and there will be a day at sea before the next port of call.