The saying goes that Santillana del Mar is the town of three lies, since it is not holy, not flat and has no sea, and the truth is that it is none of those things and one of the prettiest villages in northern Spain. The name comes from Santa Juliana, a martyr whose relics are kept in the collegiate church, and the town grew up around the monastery that held them in the early Middle Ages. Stone houses with carved coats of arms, wooden balconies and cobbled streets line the main road, and cows still wander through the lanes at times.
The collegiate church of Santa Juliana, a Romanesque building of the twelfth century, is the heart of the town, and its cloister is the real treasure. The capitals of the columns are carved with biblical scenes, animals and fantastic creatures, in a rough, lively style that shows the hands of local masons. The church is built of warm, honey-coloured stone, and the interior is simple and cool. The village has been a protected historic site for a long time, and traffic through the centre is limited.
The countryside around is green and soft, with pasture, eucalyptus and oak, and the Cantabrian Sea only a few kilometres north. Close by are the caves of Altamira, where Ice Age bison were painted on the ceiling some fourteen thousand years ago or more, and the original cave is closed to protect the paintings, but a faithful copy, the Neocueva, and a museum are open. A ride through the area passes small coastal villages, meadows and low hills, with rain and mist never far away. The roads are curving and busy in summer, and the weather can change in minutes, so carry a waterproof.
Santillana has about 4,000 people, though it feels smaller, and a few fuel stations on the main road; Reocín and Torrelavega, the larger industrial town, have more. Local specialities include sobaos, small, buttery sponge cakes from the Pas valley, and quesada pasiega, a dense cheese cake. The coastal anchovies from nearby Santoña are some of the best in Spain. Park outside the village and walk, and visit early in the morning, before the coaches arrive.