Cards

The town of Cards It is located in the beautiful Besaya region, within the Autonomous Community of Cantabria. It is a small medieval jewel that, at that time, served as the administrative center of the county of Castañeda, belonging to the Marquises of Aguilar de Campoo.

If you visit it, you will not only see a beautiful town with magnificent monuments, but you will also be close to the biggest tourist attractions in its autonomous community. Among them, beautiful beaches, the Saja-Besaya Natural Park, Santillana del Mar, Altamira Museum o Cabárceno. Next, we are going to show you everything you can see in Cartes.

The medieval historic center

The town of Cartes has been declared A Cultural y A Historic because, as we indicated, it has magnificently preserved its medieval old center. It is made up of narrow, cobbled streets that are delimited by traditional houses of the area and by some stately buildings dated between the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries.

Precisely, during the Middle Ages and in later centuries it was very important because it was a place where the Camino Real, which crossed the Besaya River in the area. It was the route by which they reached the port of Santander goods from Castilla. For her, the so-called stone bridge, which dates back to the XNUMXth century and has four eyes with semicircular arches and buttresses. It is one of the most notable monuments in Cartes, but you can see many others. Let's show them to you.

The Cartes tower

It is a medieval construction in the shape of tower house raised by the Manrique family at the beginning of the XNUMXth century. It was integrated into a larger fortification built to defend itself against the attacks of the powerful lords of La Vega. Later, it served as a prison and courtroom, as well as the magistrate's home.

You will find it crossing, precisely, the old Camino Real. It consists of two buildings made of ashlar and Gothic style which are joined by walls crossed by pointed arches. These, in their time, had lifting gates for a double function: defensive and as customs. But its greatest uniqueness lies in the fact that it is the only well-preserved Castilian-type fort in northern Spain.

Already in the XNUMXst century it was rehabilitated to dedicate it to an activity very different from the original. The call was created Physics Tower, a project designed by the University of Cantabria whose objective is to disseminate knowledge of this discipline among Secondary Education students through practical experiments.

Emblazoned mansions of the Cantabrian town

Another reason why Cartes is recognized as an Asset of Cultural Interest is the set of mansions with heraldic shields that you can see in its streets. Among them, you should pay attention to that of the Obregón, which was built in the XNUMXth century and stands out for its beautiful wooden balconies. To the same century belongs the Quijano Mier's mansion, with its elaborate stonework and wooden gates.

For its part, the house of Mrs. Melchora Quijano It has the chapel of the Santísimo Cristo de los Dolores incorporated, built later. The one of Captain Don Miguel Velarde It has the coat of arms of this family and also that of the Bustamante, as does that of the Bridge, which dates back to the XNUMXth century.

Also Oviedo house It is next to a chapel, in its case that of the Divina Pastora. As a curiosity, look at the medieval inscription found in the keystone of the arch of its façade. Precisely, the Arches mansion It receives this name because of the two large semicircular ones on the ground floor. But, above all, look at the wooden balcony that is above them and that has an exquisite decorative carving. Finally, the house of the Quijano-Rasa It was built in the XNUMXth century and is currently the Cartes Town Hall.

What to see around Cartes

If the town of Cartes is beautiful, some of the towns that make up its municipal area are no less so. Many of them also have stately mountain-type mansions with coats of arms on its facades and other religious monuments. As an example of them, we will mention the church of San Pantaleón, built in the XNUMXth century and where the neighbors held council meetings. Also, you can see foundries (primitive steel facilities) such as those of El Malicioso and Puente Pedriz. But, above all, there are several places that you should visit.

The church of Santa María and the route of the mills

As its name indicates, this tour is a walk along eight water mills that have been included within the General Inventory of the Cultural Heritage of Cantabria. They are those of La Fuente and Borio in Santiago de Cartes; from Belmonte and Parayas in Yermo; del Salto and Riocorvo in this town that we will tell you about later; from Las Bárcenas in Cohicillos and from La Aceña in Cartes itself.

For its part, the church of Santa Maria is in Wilderness, one of the towns that make up the municipality of Cartes. It is a gem of Romanesque listed as A Cultural. It was built in the XNUMXth century on the remains of a previous one that was part of the local convent, already documented in the XNUMXth century.

It has a rectangular floor plan, with a single nave and a semicircle apse. Its façade is located to the south and has pointed archivolts. Likewise, on its tympanum or upper part there is a representation of a knight fighting a dragon and which could be San Jorge. As for the belfry and the sacristy, they were added later.

Hermitage of San Cipriano

In the district of piglets, which we have already mentioned when talking about the Las Bárcenas mill, you have another interesting monument of great value for the Cantabrians. This is the hermitage of San Cipriano, built in the XNUMXth century. It has austere and simple forms, but its importance lies in the pilgrimage which is celebrated every September 16 and which is declared Regional Tourist Interest.

Thousands of people from all corners of Cantabria come to her dressed in typical costume to ask for the saint's favors. The journey culminates in the hermitage meadow, where mass and a picnic are celebrated. Likewise, dances are performed with music from drums and whistles. Among these, stand out "the picayos", stanzas of praise to San Cipriano that are performed by the women playing the tambourine while the men dance. Finally, after a festival, the descent begins with the pole full of donuts, as tradition indicates.

Riocorvo and other towns in the municipality of Cartes

Precisely, the ascent to the hermitage begins in the town of Riocorvo, another monumental wonder that does not detract from Cartes, to whose municipality it belongs. It is also located on one side of the Camino Real that went to Castilla via Reinosa, where the Belmonte stream joins the Besaya river. Likewise, its historic center is A Cultural in the condition of A Historic. This is due, above all, to its mansions with heraldic shields Of great beauty. They were built between the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries following the canons of the Baroque, although combining it with elements typical of mountain constructions.

Among them, you should pay special attention to the mansion palace of the Alonso Caballero, with its ashlar façade adorned with two family coats of arms; Velarde's y that of the Pulpits. Also of interest is the parish church that you will see between two houses and which dates back to 1804. But another of its great attractions is the Salto flour mill, which we have already mentioned and which has great heritage value. At the beginning of the 2012th century it was adapted, precisely, as a flour factory and, later, as a yarn factory. Finally, today part of its facilities are used to obtain electrical energy. Riocorvo is so beautiful that, in XNUMX, it obtained the People of Cantabria Award.

Other towns in the municipality of Cartes also have places of interest that we recommend you visit. In bedicó There is "la cuevona", where remains of settlements from the Middle Paleolithic have been found. It also has a beautiful XNUMXth century manor house. In Pen y San Miguel There are several stately buildings. But one of the most beautiful is found in Mercadal. This is the Bustamante palace, dated 1692. Finally, in Sierra Elsa You have an XNUMXth century church renovated a few years ago.

Finally, before finishing our review of the attractions of Cartes, we will tell you an anecdote. In 1877 the famous writer visited it Benito Pérez Galdós, who was looking for inspiration for his story titled Marianela. He undoubtedly found it, since the novel takes place in Socartes. And, in addition, other towns appear in it such as Aldeacorva (transcript of Riocorvo) and Villamojada (Torrelavega).

In conclusion, we have shown you everything you can see in Cards, the beautiful villa of Cantabria. We can only advise you that, if you visit it, you also go to the municipality of Reocin, which delimits it to the north and has monuments as interesting as the Golbardo bridge and palaces of the Pérez Bustamante and Sobrecasa. But above all, get close to Santander, the beautiful capital of the province. Come and discover this wonderful area in the north of Spain.