Tourist information - Santander
Santander is an elegant city which extends over a wide bay with views of the Cantabrian Sea. Its historical quarter includes a group of spectacular establishments which are located against an incredible natural backdrop of sea as well as mountains. Its marine and also commercial tradition is linked to a century old history of tourism, which has its main tourist attractions within the famous El Sardinero beach, the promenade as well as the La Magdalena peninsula. The cultural wealth of the Cantabrian capital is enriched with the passage of the Pilgrim's Road to Santiago de Compostela as well as the neighboring Altamira Caves, both of which have been declared World Heritage.
Santander is a city where the combination of its several vocations, seafaring, commercial as well as tourism traditions, remains patent. The city's origin is related to the Portus Victoriae founded by the Romans. However, the capital's urban development was not to come about until the XI c. when the town began to grow throughout the San Emeterio abbey. From its Latin name, Sancti Emeterii, comes the current name of Santander.
During the XVIII and also XIX centuries, the city became a key trading port for the maritime routes between Castile as well as the American colonies. From within the middle of the XIX century, Santander became one of the most exclusive summer holiday destinations to the northern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.
The Paseo de Pereda, having its typical houses with miradors, along with its gardens constitutes a lively boulevard which separates the coastal strip from the historic quarter of Santander. The nearby Cathedral is among the oldest buildings around the capital, its earliest construction dating from the XIII c. Within you can see the tomb of Marcelino Menéndez Pelayo, a work by the sculptor Victorio Macho. Under the main chapel is the crypt of El Cristo, a sombre vaulted chamber in which different traces of the Roman era were discovered.
Opposite the cathedral is the Plaza Porticada, in Neoherreran style enclosed by various public structures. You find yourself at a major crossroads of lively commercial streets like Arrabal or el Cubo.
One of these streets leads to the plaza del Generalísimo, site of the Town Hall, next to the popular market of la Esperanza, within the modernist style. Your visit has to continue through the Fine Arts Museum and the Menéndez Pelayo Stately Home, a building which has been declared an Historic-Artistic Site.
Returning to the Pereda gardens, you will discover the Santander Bank as well as the small palace of El Embarcadero, a building with excellent views over the bay. Here you will find the fishing port along with the Puerto Chico, along with numerous maritime installations: the exchange, the harbour, the Naval Command, etc.
In this place you can see the most popular Santander scenes. Included with the image of mansions as well as bourgeois establishments overlooking the bay is that of other structures of a cultural nature. Among them is the Festival Palace, constructed by Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oiza and the current site of the prestigious Santander International Festival. The Museum of Prehistory as well as Archaeology, including different prehistoric finds, among which are its Paleolithic collection, one of the most valuable in Europe. Finally, the Cantabrian Maritime Museum, one of the most complete museums in Spain dedicated to the sea, discovers various aspects related to the Cantabrian Sea: marine biology, maritime history, fishing ethnography, etc.
From this point Santander display the attractive beaches of los Peligros, la Magdalena and also Biquinis, with calm waters protected from the wind by the bay.
In the part of Santander where there is most tourism is El Sardinero. Opposite this famous beach you can relish one of the most breathtaking promenades in Spain, with magnificent structures like the Gran Casino, which evokes the architecture of the Belle Époque. The Plaza de Italia, featuring its elegant, lively summer terraces, and also the Piquío Gardens, which are found on a rocky inlet marking the separation between the two beaches of El Sardinero, complete the picture.
Between the historical quarter as well as El Sardinero is the peninsula on which the la Magdalena Park and the royal palace are sited, the latter being inaugurated in 1913 as the summer residence of King Alfonso XIII. The residence, which is English in style, has excellent stables and also is surrounded by extensive gardens along with wooded areas. This privileged area for relaxation becomes in the summer months the nerve centre for the famous summer courses of the International Menéndez Pelayo University, a forum which brings together both students and the most outstanding figures within the most varied fields of knowledge.
Situated halfway among the sea along with the mountains, Santander features a particular mixture of ingredients in its gastronomy. From the sea come the characteristic rabas (fried squid), bocartes rebozados (breaded whitebait), along with fresh shellfish. The interior provides excellent beef along with a dish which is emblematic of the entire region, cocido montañés (a stew made of beans, meat as well as cabbage). Desserts includes quesada (cheesecake) and sobaos pasiegos (sponge cakes made with butter, flour along with eggs).
Nature enthusiasts will discover in Cantabria an reamarkable wealth of protected areas. Among the best conserved areas figure the Natural Parks of Oyambre, Peña Cabarga along with Saja-Besaya, although the largest is the Picos de Europa National Park, which shares its territory with Asturias as well as Castilla y León.
In the foothills of this mountain range is the Parador de Fuente Dé. One of the several accommodation options there is as well the Parador Gil Blas, in Santillana del Mar, declared a National Monument.
Near the capital, you can enjoy the Cabárceno Nature Park, a place of exceptional natural beauty where various species of animals live almost within the wild.
The traditional northern route of the Pilgrim's Road to Santiago de Compostela runs along the Cantabrian coast, crossing picturesque towns like Castro Urdiales, Santoña, Suances, Comillas, San Vicente de la Barquera or Santillana del Mar. A few kilometres from this town are the Altamira Caves, which have been declared World Heritage. Considered the “Sistine Chapel of Paleolithic Art”, they contain some of the most leading cave paintings of Quaternary art. A contemporary building houses the Museum, where the new cave is visible, a real replica of the pictures which appear around the original cave.
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