Santillana del Mar, Spain

20 km west of Santander is a pretty town with narrow cobbled streets and stone houses. A town with unique harmonious architecture, combining baroque, gothic and Romanesque style. Santillana del Mar, a famous town with a 1200-year history, witnessed by family coats of arms on the walls of almost all homes, and with three untruths in its name: not holy /sant/, not equal /llana/, not to the sea /el mar/.
The most remarkable representative of the Romanesque style in Santilla del Mar is the collegiate church of the Collegiate from the XII century. What makes its architecture impressive are its richly decorated main portal, interior friezes and 42 capitals of its magnificent gallery, all depicting lions, pigeons, snakes, pelicans and floral motifs. Its altarpiece from the 16th century, built in honor of St. Juliana, should not be missed.
Continuing along the main street of Santilla del Mar, the next stop on the tour is the Museo Diosesano or the Diocesan Museum. In it you can see the magnificent collection of medieval and baroque sculptures, enameled objects, silver and carved ivory.
Although small, the narrow cobbled streets of Santilla del Mar are priceless in terms of the sights that perched along their length. One is intoxicated by the best of civic mastery that one can witness - from Gothic towers, through a Renaissance palace, to Baroque residential buildings.
What attracts many of the countless visitors to Santilla del Mar is the Altamira Cave, which is located 156 meters above sea level and a little more than 2 km from the Saha River. Although discovered during a hunt by Modesto Cubias in 1875, its true discoverer and first explorer of the world is considered to be Don Marcelino de Southwall, a landowner, lawyer and lover of prehistory. His research proves that it was formed during the Pliocene.
Altamira Cave consists of three parts, the first is a wide entrance hall, which is illuminated by natural light, the second is occupied by a spacious hall, on the ceiling of which are found many paintings of the Late Paleolithic, and the third part of the cave is occupied by smaller halls and corridors. Many contemporary artists have visited the cave and were amazed by its paintings, and Pablo Picasso says that after Altamira everything is decadent.
Santillana del Mar, a small town located just 6 km from the sea, one of the most beautiful places. Everywhere you look, you find history - in the walls of the old church, which housed the relics of the Holy Virgin Juliana, named after the village, and in the narrow medieval streets where pilgrims passed for centuries on their way to Santiago de Campostela.