Back in 1835, Valderredible became a huge Cantabrian municipality. So much, that it was proposed to divide it into two, as three hundred square kilometres of territory were too many to take care of, but finally, it remained as a single region. A landscape watered by the River Ebro, with a small population, but many vestiges from an exciting past.
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Back in 1835, Valderredible became a huge Cantabrian municipality. So much, that it was proposed to divide it into two, as three hundred square kilometres of territory were too many to take care of, but finally, it remained as a single region. A landscape watered by the River Ebro, with a small population, but many vestiges from an exciting past.
About a millennium ago, a new art called Romanesque spread across Europe and penetrated the Cantabrian coast with pilgrims making their way to Compostela. For this reason, in this region, Romanesque works were going to sprout as if they were mushrooms, and together with the neighbouring regions of Palencia and Burgos, one of the areas with more traces of that art in the whole continent was going to be formed.
The marvellous Collegiate Church of San Martin de Elines, from the twelfth century, is one of the most famous examples, but many churches, like the one of San Andrés de Valdelomar or the one of San Juan Bautista in Villanueva de la Nía, give this territory a unique medieval flavour.
But sure, it wouldn’t be the Middle Ages without military and defensive constructions! The region had been the scene of a few nasty battles, and when those times passed, in here they kept the tradition of building castles, even when the presence of the Saracens armies was nothing more than a distant memory. The magnificent Ruerrero Tower, from the fourteenth century, is a good example of such spirit, and in the following centuries, many more fortified houses were going to be built here as well, just in case.
However, to find another of Valderredible’s hallmarks, we need to go back in time. We must reach the last few years of the Ancient Age and the first ones of the Medieval when monks and hermits looked for hidden places where they could go and dig a room to live isolated and far from the world.
This custom, which will last for centuries, will make many cells, hermitages and necropolis carved into the stone appear in the valley’s landscape, often of breathtaking beauty. The complexes of El Tobazo, Peñota or San Pantaleón, or the hermitage off Arroyuelos, are some of the extraordinary remains that Christians from distant times left in this area.
In other words, between vestiges of the High Middle Ages and Romanesque treasures you can spend a few exciting days touring Valderredible. We bet you won’t regret it …
