Carmona in Cantabria

Discuss Carmona in Cantabria It means doing so in a beautiful town located where events take place. Saja and Nansa valleys. It is, therefore, a natural area of ​​unparalleled beauty that is bathed by this last river and that has been declared Historic Artistic Set.

It is located in the rural and mountainous area of Cantabria, with enormous forest wealth, green landscapes and ancient customs. It is the traditional area of ​​cattle originating from this autonomous community: the tudanca breed. The cows come down every year from the pasture ports on a journey called "it happened" and they even have a monument at the entrance of the town. Next, we are going to show you everything you can see and do if you visit Carmona in Cantabria. But first we want to do a little history.

History of Carmona

This area was inhabited since Neolithic, but its first written references refer to the XNUMXrd century after Christ. These testimonies speak of a Cantabrian people who venerated the god Cabuérnigo. This is where the name of the region comes from, since Carmona is located in the municipality of Cabuerniga.

Around that same time, a Roman road was built that connected the area with the plateau through the Collado de Somahoz. However, there is no evidence of population settlements. These would occur after the Muslim invasion of the year 711, when Christians arrived from the south fleeing the Arabs.

Later, with the advance of the Christian hosts, the call was established route of the Foramontanos. It was the one that the inhabitants of the kingdom of Asturias who emigrated back to the present Castilla to repopulate it. Thanks to it, several villages were created, including Carmona. And this, originally, was an alfoz or rural nucleus that belonged to the town of Cabuérniga, in turn dependent on the merindad of the Asturias of Santillana.

Monuments and other places that you must visit in Carmona in Cantabria have remained from all this history. Next, we show you the most prominent ones.

traditional architecture

The first thing that will catch your attention in this beautiful Cantabrian town is the bill of its houses. Are the traditional Cantabrian type homes that you can also find in other towns in the region such as Santillana del Mar o Barcena Mayor, although with some peculiarities of its own.

They are stone constructions with two floors or ground floor and undercover. The roofs are gabled and usually have a continuous balcony in the area of ​​the highest floor. is the call Solana, which is covered with a long eaves and which, in other cases, is supported by a masonry portico that frames the entrance. This is also called estragal.

It is a type of housing that originates in the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries as a response to the needs of the inhabitants of the area. Likewise, it has other complementary buildings such as the warehouse for farming tools and the stables for livestock. Even its inhabitants used to have other more distant homes, such as, for example, the winter cabins, which were found in the mountain passes and which served as shelter when they brought the cattle to those pastures.

But Carmona in Cantabria also has other types of buildings that, maintaining some similarities with these, are more luxurious and belonged to aristocratic families.

The manor houses of Carmona in Cantabria

These palatial houses have features typical of the mountain architecture of the area, but also responds to more general styles. The greatest exponent of them in Carmona is the palace of the Díaz Cossío and Mier that you will find in the heart of the town and that, currently, is a tourist parador. As we have just told you, you combine features of the baroque with other traditional houses in the area. This combination of styles makes it a construction of great originality.

But, in general, it impresses with its beauty, with two large side towers and three arches on the main façade. It consists of two floors in the latter and three in the first. But in all of them there are balconies with grilles. Likewise, a great heraldic shield adorns the facade.

Its construction dates from the beginning of the XNUMXth century and has a rectangular floor plan. But the best of all is that, if you wish, you can stay in it because, as we have told you, it has become a hotel establishment.

The church of San Roque and other temples

It is, along with the previous one, the main monument of Carmona and was also built in the XNUMXth century. It has a Latin cross plan and has a single nave with four sections and a ribbed roof. Likewise, attached to it forming a complex, is the beautiful parsonage, which has an open hallway with three arches and an upper floor with three balconies.

This temple is not the only one you can see in Carmona. The parish church, dedicated to San Pedro, dates from the XNUMXth century and has a magnificent altarpiece dedicated to the Gospel in which the relief carving of the Virgen del Carmen. And, next to this, you can visit the hermitages of San Antonio Abad and de las Lindes.

Viewpoints and other monuments in Carmona

Along with the monuments that we have mentioned, another of the great attractions that you have in Carmona are its spectacular viewpoints, which offer you incomparable views of the nearby mountains. We have already explained to you that this town in Cantabria belongs to the municipality of Cabuérniga, which, in turn, is integrated into the Saja Besaya Natural Park.

It is a privileged ecosystem that alternates deep valleys with high mountains and has extraordinary natural wealth. Among the first, the own Cabuerniga and, with respect to the latter, for example, the Ozalba peaks and Sierras del Escudo and del Cordel, this last zone of special protection for birds. It also combines wooded areas of, among other species, beeches with brañas or mountain passes rich in pastures for cattle. You have all this panoramic view from the viewpoints of Carmona in Cantabria. Among them, that of the Asomada del Ribero, which offers you a magnificent view of the aforementioned Cabuérniga valley and, further away, of the Quivierda river area. But also the one installed in the Carmona hill y the one of San Antonio.

On the other hand, we have already told you about the Tudanca cow monument that you can see in Carmona. Not in vain, it is one of their breeding areas. But the mountain town also has another famous tradition. We refer to the elaboration of sandals, who also have their monument in the town.

In this case, it is a rustic and typical footwear in the area since time immemorial. It served its inhabitants to walk on the uneven terrain in which they had to move. It is very similar to other northern regions, for example, Asturias, where they are called mothers. Basically, they have an upper body where the foot fits and which goes on supports similar to the thick heels of shoes. In turn, these have dowels, wooden supplements, in their lower part.

It will not be difficult for you to find small craft workshops that manufacture this type of traditional footwear. If you wish, they will sell you a pair of sandals at a good price.

What to eat if you visit Carmona in Cantabria

On the other hand, you cannot leave Carmona without enjoying the wonderful cuisine typical of the Cantabrian mountains. In good logic, it is about strong and caloric recipes. This was demanded by the cold climate of the area's winters and, above all, the hard life of its inhabitants, who had to spend a lot of time in the mountains with their livestock.

Proof of all this is the Mountain stew, typical dish par excellence of Carmona and the towns close to it. It is made with white beans and collard greens, to which are added chorizo, black pudding, bacon and pork ribs. These last products constitute the compango, which is common in other similar recipes in Spain such as Asturian fabada or Madrid stew itself. On the other hand, they are also delicious the trout fished in the Nansa river. And, likewise, the stews made with game meats, especially deer and wild boar. But, if we talk about this product, we cannot forget the Tudanca beef T-bone steaks, really wonderful.

As for the traditional desserts of Carmona in Cantabria, they are also strong recipes. For example, the fried milk and rice pudding between the sweet and the cow or sheep cheeses between the salty. But there is no shortage of the most typical ones in other valleys of the autonomous community such as the cheeses, traditional in the Pas. It is prepared with sugar, butter, curdled milk, lemon, eggs, flour and cinnamon. You can fully enjoy all these delights in the various restaurants that the town has.

In conclusion, we have shown you the best things to see and do if you visit Carmona in Cantabria. We can only advise you that, if you travel to this beautiful town in the Cabuérniga Valley, also get closer to others beautiful towns of Cantabria as San Vicente de la Barquera, Quotation marks o Santillana del Mar. Come and discover this beautiful Spanish region.