Places to see in ( Cantabria - Spain ) Santander
Places to see in ( Cantabria - Spain ) Santander
Santander is the capital city of the Cantabria region on Spain’s north coast. The Palacio de la Magdalena, once the royal summer residence, lies at the mouth of the Bay of Santander on the rocky La Magdalena Peninsula. West, the city center is home to the Catedral de Santander, with its octagonal cupola and Gothic cloister. Nearby, the Paseo de Pereda promenade runs along one side of the Jardines de Pereda gardens.
Santander is an elegant city which extends over a wide bay with views of the Cantabrian Sea. Its historic quarter includes a group of majestic buildings which are situated against an incredible natural backdrop of sea and mountains. Its marine and commercial tradition is linked to a century old history of tourism, which has its main attractions in the famous El Sardinero beach, the promenade and 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 and the neighbouring Altamira Caves, both of which have been declared World Heritage.
Santander is a city in which the mixture of its various vocations, seafaring, commercial and 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 around the San Emeterio abbey. From its Latin name, Sancti Emeterii, comes the current name of Santander. During the XVIII and XIX centuries, the city became a key trading port for the maritime routes between Castile and the American colonies. From around the middle of the XIX century, Santander became one of the most exclusive summer tourist destinations on the northern coast of the Iberian peninsula.
The Paseo de Pereda, with its typical houses with miradors, and its gardens constitutes a lively boulevard which separates the coastal strip from the historic quarter of Santander. The nearby Cathedral is one of the oldest buildings in the capital, its earliest construction dating from the XIII c. Inside 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 various traces of the Roman era were discovered.
Opposite the cathedral is the Plaza Porticada, in Neoherreran style surrounded by several public buildings. You find yourself at a major crossroads of lively commercial streets such as 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, in 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 can see the Santander Bank and the small palace of El Embarcadero, a building with excellent views over the bay. Here you will find the fishing port and the Puerto Chico, as well as several maritime installations: the exchange, the harbour, the Naval Command, etc.
In the part of Santander where there is most tourism is El Sardinero. Opposite this famous beach you can enjoy one of the most beautiful promenades in Spain, with magnificent buildings such as the Gran Casino, which evokes the architecture of the Belle Époque. The Plaza de Italia, with its elegant, lively summer terraces, and the Piquío Gardens, which are situated on a rocky inlet marking the separation between the two beaches of El Sardinero, complete the picture.
( Cantabria - Spain ) is well know as a tourist destination because of the variety of places you can enjoy while you are visiting Cantabria . Through a series of videos we will try to show you recommended places to visit in Cantabria - Spain
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