Santimamiñe and Covalanas

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Santimamiñe

   In 1916, a group of boys exploring a hillside in the Basque Country found paintings deep inside a cave, and Santimamiñe became one of the most important prehistoric sites in the region. The cave, near Kortezubi in the Urdaibai valley, contains Magdalenian paintings of bison, horses, goats and deer, made around fourteen thousand years ago, and it is part of the UNESCO listing of cave art of northern Spain. To protect the paintings, the cave itself is closed to the public, but a visitor centre offers a virtual tour that recreates the interior in detail, with guides explaining the art and the people who made it.

   Read the complete Santimamiñe write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Santimamiñe is where the day begins. Next is Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre.

2. 2. Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre

   Down in the Casco Viejo of Bilbao, where the old streets run in a tight grid beside the Nervión, the cathedral of Santiago stands at the heart of the Siete Calles, the seven original streets of the medieval town. It is a Gothic church, rebuilt after a fire in the sixteenth century, with a neo-Gothic façade and spire added later, and it sits so snugly among the tall houses that you often see it only when you are standing right in front of it.

   Read the complete Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre comes up about 39 km into the recorded legs. Next is Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion.

3. 3. Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion

   Castro-Urdiales has one of the best harbour fronts on the whole Cantabrian coast, and it knows it. The Gothic church of Santa María de la Asunción stands on a rocky headland above the old port, its buttresses and pinnacles silhouetted against the sea, flanked by the remains of a castle that now holds a lighthouse and by a medieval bridge leading to a little chapel on a rock. Built from the thirteenth century onward, the church is one of the finest Gothic buildings in northern Spain, and it lies on the coastal route of the Way of Saint James, which is part of a UNESCO listing that covers the pilgrimage roads of the north.

   Read the complete Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 74 km into the recorded legs you reach Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion. Next is Covalanas.

4. 4. Covalanas

   Covalanas is known as the cave of the red deer. Its walls carry red ochre paintings of hinds, drawn in a distinctive dotted technique, and they are among the finest Palaeolithic paintings in the Cantabrian region. The cave sits on a steep, wooded hillside above Ramales de la Victoria, in eastern Cantabria, and it was one of the first painted caves to be recognised in Spain, in the early twentieth century. It is part of the UNESCO-listed Cave of Altamira and Palaeolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain, and visits are limited to small groups, so booking ahead is advisable.

   Read the complete Covalanas write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Covalanas, about halfway. Next is back through Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion.

5. 5. back through Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion sits at 139 km, about halfway. Next is back through Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre.

6. 6. back through Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Cathédrale de Saint Jacques Apôtre comes up about 207 km into the recorded legs. Next is Santimamiñe.

7. 7. Santimamiñe

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Santimamiñe write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Santimamiñe closes the day.