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Stage 15

Queveda to Comillas stage

km 26,4

Time 06H 20’

Difficulty Medium

Hostels 7

Available without an Internet connection

Before the campsite there is a nice view of Santillana. Enjoy it!

Information about the stage 15: Queveda to Comillas stage

Enlarge map

Points of interest in the stage 15: Queveda to Comillas stage

10 El capricho de Gaudí
9 Pontifical University
8 Superllano Palace
7 Albergue de peregrinos de Cóbreces. Abadía Cisterciense de Viaceli
6 Church of San Pedro
5 San Martín de Cigonzales
4 San Pedro de Oreña
3 Chapel of Arroyo
2 Collegiate of Santa Juliana
1 Albergue Arco Iris

The route

If we want to visit Santillana del Mar we will have to leave early from the hostel and go to Camplengo, where after a detour to the right we will go down to meet the lateral facade of the Collegiate of Santa Juliana. This ancient monastery was the origin of Santillana del Mar, a villa that was declared Artistic Historical Complex in 1943. We could spend the whole day visiting museums and streets between palaces and manor houses, as the town deserves it. The absence, no longer of painted arrows, but also of stone shells compel us to imagine the march. The exit departs from the Plaza de Ramón Pelayo, where the City Hall is, to line the street of the Ovens.

Before you reach the campsite there is a nice view of Santillana surrounded in part by a large meadow. We go now to the nearby Arroyo to which we enter after passing a local road. The hermitage on the hillside must be left to descend by a cement trolley to Oreña. So we enter the municipality of Mat de Lloredo. Coming to the town we will see in the distance the church of San Pedro which is shown as a watchtower on the high. We will go to her and leave this 16th-century temple to descend to Caborredondo. We crossed it by road, we passed over the CA-131 and when we reached a house with the name La Solana we turned to the right to, along with maizales, reach the imposing stamp of the church of San Martin de Cigonzalo. The temple was built in the middle of the 18th century according to the designs of the Indian Juan Antonio de Tagle and was declared a good of cultural interest in 1992.

After contemplating San Martín we continue to Novales, the capital of the municipality - it is easy not to enter it because before there is a turn that snaps and goes up to CA-356 towards Cóbreces-. Novales is famous for their orange and lemon plantations that grow thanks to a special microclimate that occurs in this area. Already in the time of the Empire the Romans loaded their ships with these citrus fruits.

Leaving this Mediterranean atmosphere, you get on the road you enter Cóbreles. It is best to continue for it, as the signage forces to get into the village and take a big turn to return to the road at the height of the Church of San Pedro. The church, completed in 1910, has a characteristic red color and is inspired by examples of Romanesque and French Gothic. Next to the Cistercian Abbey of Viaceli, of which it is ad link, it forms the two signs of landscape identity of Cóbreces.

The day continues next to the church and finally gives us a relaxing stretch between a oak forest and you may be drunk. It is worth enjoying it because we are once again headed back to an asphalt track and to the CA-131 at the height of the Sale of the Tramalon where more than one has had to take refuge from the rain under the roof. Several roads and more roads lead to La Iglesia, a town of about 150 inhabitants that holds the capital of the municipality of Ruiloba. Then there will come Pando, where there is a convent of the Barefoot Carmelite of the 18th century, and later Concha. So we left the nuclei of Ruiloba and headed to our end at Comillas. Just a kilometer and a half to enter the village and delight us with the view of the Cantabrian.

The difficulties

Remarks

In images

What to see, what to do

Who would then say to the former inhabitants of Comillas, fishermen, farmers and farmers during the Middle Ages, that their small town would become in the 19th century a summer zone of kings and nobles. This happened thanks to Antonio López López, a migrant to America and holder of the title of Marqués de Comillas, as a prize for his contributions to the Cuban war. After returning from the other side of the Ocean he created naval and tobacco companies in Barcelona but did not forget their origins: Quotation marks. The Marquis’s invitations to King Alfonso XIII to make this place of the Cantabrian come into effect and bring with it the arrival of nobles and wealthy. Comillas, and their beaches, become, together with Santander, one of the most prestigious places to spend the summer season and practice the famous sunbathing.

Superllano Palace: Built between 1881 and 1888 by the famous Catalan architect Joan Martorell and Montélls on behalf of Antonio López, first Marqués de Comillas. It is lined with a spectacular stone facade of Carrejo and decorated as open galleries. The building consists of two floors. At the bottom is the pantheon and the chapel at the top. This is a polygonal, single-nave plant. The town hall, the reclinatories and the banks were designed by Gaudí. The palace also houses a good collection of paintings and sculptures.
Pontifical University: Completed, also at the request of Antonio López, in December 1890, it was in its beginnings a seminar for the formation of priesthood candidates from all over Spain, Latin America and the Philippines. The increase in its activity and the success, given its academic quality, made the building increase with several annexes such as the major and minor seminars, the Colegio Maximo and the Colegio Hispanoamericano. After 75 years of academic work in 1968, the decision was made to transfer the activity to Madrid. The Pontifical University is now the property of the Government of Cantabria. The building is in rehabilitation. It cannot be visited inside, but it is worth climbing the hill to discover the scale so harmonious that it is made.
The Capricho of Gaudí: Maxima Díaz de Quijano, a brother-in-law of the Marqués de Comillas, proposed the project of his summer stay to a young Gaudí who had not yet adopted in his work the seal that would make him famous afterwards. The result was a palace baptized as the Capricho that is largely covered by ceramics and where its structure and tower gather oriental influences. The restaurant is worth it.
The port of Comillas: It was completed in 1716 and thousands of ducts were invested in it from the pockets of the neighbors of Comillas themselves. In his time, he was defended by three little guns and a fort with four artillery pieces. Commas maintained the tradition of whale fishing until the 18th century, to which they emerged in arpon shells. The fish market is a mountain building from 1942 that was built on the foundations of an old mineral store. Fishing activity is currently very low.