The origin of this handsome town, listed as an Artistic-HistoricMonument in 1889, dates back to the Middle Ages. One of its prime sights is the Colegiata de Santa Juliana, an important example of Cantabrian-Romanesque art. The construction dates from the twelfth century and the church was listed as a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1985. The magnificent portal is worth a very close look, to appreciate the façade of golden stone and the prominent sculptural group and the Christ in Majesty. Inside it is divided into a nave and two aisles, with important works of art such as the altarpiece, the saint’s sepulchre the altar front and organ. The most treasured part for connoisseurs is the cloister, built in the late twelfth century and reckoned to be one the most important and beautiful in the whole of Spain. In the Plaza de la Colegiata itself is the Museo de Jesús Otero and the marvellous garden of the Casa de los Abades.

The best way to see this town is to roam its medieval maze of streets, chancing upon the many mansions and palaces with which the town is studded, most from the fourteenth to eighteenth century and still retaining all their original splendour. Take time out to appreciate the magnificent roofs, facades and wooden balconies on the town’s various buildings. The best houses and mansions are the Casa de los Cossío and the Casa de Quevedo, on the Plaza de la Colegiata itself, sporting splendid escutcheons on the walls, the sixteenth-century Palacio de Velarde on the Plaza de las Arenas and the seventeenth-century Casa de los Hombrones, owing its strange name (House of the Soldiers) to the two warriors holding up its shield. Arcades leading off the last house take us to other interesting buildings: the Casa de Leonor Vega, mother of the first Marqués de Santillana, the Torre de los Velarde and the Casa de los Bustamante.

On the Plaza del Mercado there are several civil buildings of great historical and architectural importance, such as the Palacio del Ayuntamiento, the Town Hall built in the eighteenth century. The ensemble is topped off by the Torre de los Borja. Other important buildings are the Casa del Águila and the Casa de la Parra, the latter house being home to the Museo Etnográfico, the Torre del Merino and the Palacio de los Bareda, now converted into a Parador de Turismo. From here we can move on to the Calle de Santo Domingo, to see the Palacio del Marqués de Benamejís, which contains valuable eighteenth-century paintings. Continuing along the Calle de Jesús Tagle we come to the

Convento de Regina Coeli, now holding the Museo Diocesano. Nearby stands the Casona de Sánchez Tagle.