Santillana del Mar

Best of Santillana del Mar

Santillana del Mar Essentials

Santillana del Mar preserves its medieval layout through cobblestone streets and noble palaces. This selection features the 12th-century Romanesque Collegiate Church of Santa Juliana and the nearby UNESCO-listed Cave of Altamira, renowned for prehistoric polychrome paintings. The list extends to the coast with the 16th-century cliffside Ermita de Santa Justa and includes the historic center’s 18th-century Baroque Town Hall. Visitors can also explore the town's culinary heritage with traditional sponge cakes at Casa Quevedo or view species from the Altamira era at the zoo’s Quaternary Park.

Santillana del Mar Essentials — Map

Rameessos / Public domain

A

Cave of Altamira

The Cave of Altamira is a cave complex, located near the historic town of Santillana del Mar in Cantabria, Spain.

Ana Sevilleja / CC-BY-SA

B

Santillana del Mar Collegiate Church

The Collegiate church and cloister of Santa Juliana is a collegiate church located in Santillana del Mar, Spain.

C

Ayuntamiento de Santillana del Mar

An 18th-century Baroque palace located in the Plaza Mayor, featuring an ashlar stone facade and traditional Cantabrian wooden balconies.

D

Convento de las Dominicas de San Ildefonso

A 16th-century monastery housing religious art. The cloistered nuns follow a long-standing tradition of selling handmade sweets to visitors.

E

Casa Quevedo

A historic confectionery famous for serving Santillana’s traditional snack of fresh milk and artisanal sponge cakes, known as bizcochos.

Baperukamo / CC BY-SA 3.0

F

Altamira National Museum and Research Centre

The National Museum and Research Center of Altamira, also known as Altamira Museum, is a center dedicated to the conservation of, research…

Pablo / CC BY-SA 2.0

G

Ermita de Santa Justa

A 16th-century chapel constructed directly into the rock face of a coastal cliff, situated where the sea meets unique geological folds.

Pablo / CC BY-SA 2.0

H

Torre de San Telmo

The ruins of a medieval stone watchtower perched on a cliffside, originally used for coastal surveillance and maritime signaling.

I

Zoológico de Santillana del Mar

A six-hectare zoo featuring a Quaternary Park dedicated to the species that coexisted with the prehistoric inhabitants of the Altamira caves.

J

Museum of the Inquisition

This museum tells the terrifying story of Spanish Inquisition and the means it used - the torture tools and instruments.