Santander rest day idea - if you like cave art!

[Jan_D]

A few days ago I had the privilege of visiting a cave just outside Santander, containing the oldest cave paintings in Europe: La Cueva de El Castillo. It's located a short walk from the village of Puente Viesgo, served by frequent Alsa buses from Santander city centre. The tour guides are professional archeologists, and our tour (consisting of only 3 people) lasted an hour and cost a mere €3!

It was really touching to see an entire wall of hand-prints of all sizes from over 40,000 years ago. The animals were so beautifully and elegantly painted, reminded me of Picasso's quote that "After Altamira all art is decadence" or something similar. Unlike Altamira this cave is still open to the public, but I was informed that the minute the CO2 levels reach a certain level it will be closed.

You will need to join a tour (easily booked online); I was lucky to arrive just after a big school group without booking in advance, but apparently this might be a bit risky over the holidays.

Anyway it was a real treat! Highly recommended for those who can spare the time. A different type of "cathedral" to enjoy on your pilgrimage.

 

[Tia Valeria]

Double likes @Jan_D
Also for those who like this there is the cave of Tito Bustillo at Ribadasella. Pre-book at the tourist kiosk or the cave ofice (if open). The cave is just to the left over the river bridge.
Is El Castillo the cave with the little 'Mamut'? or is that in one of the others?
The reproduction at Altamira is good, unless you have actually seen the original - pre-book in Santander at the big Bank of Santander to avoid the first queue.

 

[AJGuillaume]

A few days ago I had the privilege of visiting a cave just outside Santander, containing the oldest cave paintings in Europe: La Cueva de El Castillo. It's located a short walk from the village of Puente Viesgo, served by frequent Alsa buses from Santander city centre. The tour guides are professional archeologists, and our tour (consulting of only 3 people) lasted an hour and cost a mere €3!

It was really touching to see an entire wall of hand-prints of all sizes from over 40,000 years ago. The animals were so beautifully and elegantly painted, reminded me of Picasso's quote that "After Altamira all art is decadence" or something similar. Unlike Altamira this cave is still open to the public, but I was informed that the minute the CO2 levels reach a certain level it will be closed.

You will need to join a tour (easily booked online); I was lucky to arrive just after a big school group without booking in advance, but apparently this might be a bit risky over the holidays.

Anyway it was a real treat! Highly recommended for those who can spare the time. A different type of "cathedral" to enjoy on your pilgrimage.

Thank you @Jan_D!
That's one of the experiences I am aiming to do.
I thought I might have to hire a car to get to the cave, but you seem to indicate that there is bus?
Or did you book a tour from Santander?
Buen Camino!

 

[Jan_D]

Thank you @Jan_D!
That's one of the experiences I am aiming to do.
I thought I might have to hire a car to get to the cave, but you seem to indicate that there is bus?
Or did you book a tour from Santander?
Buen Camino!

Alsa has buses throughout the day to Puente Viesgo, which is located at the base of the hill (Monte Castillo, where you'll find the caves). You can check on the Alsa website for exact times, but as far as I remember there were buses at around 9am, 10am, and 1pm, give or take half an hour for weekdays/weekend.

The bus takes around 30 minutes and costs €2.30, you hop on at Santander bus station, but watch out as Puente Viesgo is only one stop along the way, I think the final destination might be Madrid, so you need to take the escalator down to the long distances buses (easy to navigate: Santander bus station is small and the staff are usually very helpful. There's a departure board above the escalator with the stance number).

Once you get to Puente Viesgo, you need to walk up to the caves. You can either go along the road, which snakes up the hill, or else there's a shorter steeper walk from the village (signs are very obvious, the village is tiny!) In any case it's probably less than 1km, so for a peregrino shouldn't be a problem!