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The city of Santander in Cantabria

Wednesday, 6 June 2012 - 01:50 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: European Union / Europäische Union
Category/Kategorie: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

🔊 Listen to this Post The port city of Santander is the capital of the autonomous community and historical region of Cantabria situated on the north coast of Spain. Located east of Gijón and west of Bilbao, the city has a population of 183,446.

From 1950 to the 70’s urban growth takes off with the construction of many housing blocks with solid buildings of 5 to 6 stories but few housing developments for the working population.

In recent decades the growth of Santander is beyond the periphery of the city with smaller buildings and structures and aimed at the residence of the first and second home (this last of special importance). Stresses the El Sardinero, that changes its morphology of garden city to residential and leisure area of Santander, the Nueva Montaña zone recovered industrial land for residential and commercial activity, Cierro del Alisal, Los Castros Avenue and urban sprawl along the northern slope of Vaguada de las Llamas.

In the 1980s the port of Santander was displaced from the center of the city and in recent years Santander is in a recovery of its southern edge facing the Bay of Santander. The transfer of all port activities to Puerto de Raos has been gradual, with the exception of maritime passenger traffic that is centered on its maritime station front of Paseo de Pereda.

Main sights are:

• The Cathedral of Santander:
  • The lower temple, called “cripta del Cristo” was built around 1200 on other earlier roman buildings. Is 31 meters long and 18 wide, organized into three naves. His style is a transition from romanesque to gothic and is accessed by two doors of late romanesque. Here are the remains of the Holy Martyrs (Emeterius and Celedonius), which reached Portus Victoriae (the ancient Roman Santander) by boat.
  • The upper church was built between the late 13th and 14th century. At be completed the gothic cloister was built.
• El Sardinero was in 1840 a rugged area of Santander environment. Since 1850, started arriving the first tourists and created some facilities (bath houses, eateries …). Following the summer of Queen Isabella II in El Sardinero in 1861 and Amedeo of Savoy in 1872, the area acquired great fame and began to attract many tourists. There was a spectacular urban and cultural development with the construction of several hotels, inns, cafes, trains and trams arriving at El Sardinero.
• The Palacio de la Magdalena, eclectic style, English influenced, built in 1909 by public subscription as a gift for the Spanish Royal Family.
• El Hotel Real was opened in the summer of 1917, in a privileged location overlooking the bay and the open sea. It is a beautiful five-storey building, with south porch on a high terrace. The style is modern with an air of eclecticism, by the architect González Riancho.
• Next to El Hotel Real stands The old house built for Don Adolfo Pardo from 1915-1918. Of mountain style with well marked tower was designed by the architect Gonzalez Riano and today is the palace of Emilio Botín García de los Ríos.
• The Gran Casino del Sardinero completed in 1916, has some relationship to El Hotel Real and is one of the symbols of the city. It has a terrace balcony which is accessed by a monumental staircase. The central body, two-story is framed by the sides with two octagonal towers, covered by domes, whose edges involved, from top to bottom, shafts with capitals for each floor.
• The Lighthouse of Cabo Mayor presides the entrance to the Bay of Santander.[6] Privileged balcony overlooking the Cantabrian sea and in the city is now one of the most emblematic and evocative for citizens and visitors of Santander. Located in the extreme northeast of the city, the area where is located the Lighthouse of Cabo Mayor is part of a larger area consisting of the headlands of Cabo Mayor and Cabo Menor. The physical configuration of this space is defined by its particular geomorphology, marked by its beaches and cliffs of coastline and a rugged terrain with maximum dimensions of 50 meters above the sea level. Historically located on the outskirts of the city, the area of Cabo Mayor and Cabo Menor has applications and relevant functions: signal maritime defensive position, horse racing, camping, public park, golf course, etc. Thus became tourist landmark and one of the areas of greatest variety of landscape and environmental.

Read more on City of Santander, Santander Tourism, Santander Webcams, International University Menéndez Pelayo, University of Cantabria, Gran Casino Sardinero, Santander Airport, Campos de Sport de El Sardinero, Museums of Cantabria and Wikipedia Santander.Learn more about the use of photos. To inform you about latest news most of the city, town or tourism websites offer a newsletter service and/or operate Facebook pages/Twitter accounts. In addition more and more destinations, tourist organizations and cultural institutions offer Apps for your Smart Phone or Tablet, to provide you with a mobile tourist guide (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.