"Dolphin Sands Road!": Spain part 4: Around Santander town

Santander is a port city in Cantabria, northern Spain. Much of Santander was lost in their Great Fire of 1941 and this significantly changed the architecture of the town.

Two of Santander's highlights are its cathedral and palace, both of which we visited on Spanish speaking tours:

Cathedral
The mainly gothic cathedral, it has been renovated over time, was built between the 12th and 14th century on top of the former Santander Abbey. Parts of it survived the '41 fire so it is rather a special place in town. My favourite part of the tour was looking at the stonework at the entry to the church. Rob liked the altar the most and it was a good thing that the guide decided to put the lights on for us to see it (after the request of another tourist)!

Detail on cathedral exterior wall

Part of the lovely church windows

The altar

The cathedral

Church from the road

Palacio de la Magdalena

The palace at Santander was constructed in 1908 to provide a summer residence for the royal family of Spain. The royal family used the palace until the Second Spanish Republic in 1931. It is now used as a meeting hall and conference centre and, in the summer, by the Menednes Pelayo International University. It has a magnificent view coastal views from the highest point on the Peninsula of La Magdalena.

We joined an evening tour of the palace which took in a recreation of the royal residency. It was in Spanish so we took it as an opportunity to try to practice our comprehension! The inside was grand but we probably enjoyed the outside of the palace, its views and the surrounding public park the most. Apparently the Queen (originally from England) most enjoyed the landscape and architecture as it was very close to her native home at the Island of Wight.

Palacio conference room

Palacio de la Magdalena

View from the Palace

Palacio de la Magdalena

Kat and Palacio de la Magdalena

Flower beds and Palacio de la Magdalena

Walking around Santander

Santander was a great town to walk around. My favourite walk was easily along the top of the cliffs overlooking the bay area and Somo.

Cliff walk Santander

Overlooking Santander bay

Santander is very hilly and it has an outdoor elevator that takes on one of the bigger hills. Of course, we went on a walk that saw us climb to the top of the elevator in order to take it down! There are some nice parks scattered around town, including the lovely Llamas Park. Many days our route would be past the market, through the town hall square and towards the esplanade. Due to the windy roads and hills, it was easy to be surprised as you came around a bend to a beautiful view of the sea or a grand building.

The palace area also has lovely walks with views of the beaches and lighthouses. There is a small zoo nearby the palace gardens that has penguins and seals, as well as a ship exhibition.