Hello arch lovers!
Again showing beautiful places and buildings that stand out and attract our attention and again, in the north of Spain. During my trip at Christmas I was able to enjoy the beautiful city of Santander, capital of the region. But in the region, Cantabria, there are also beautiful and well-known towns that must be visited.
I have already talked about some of them, but now I wanted to share with you my visit to an eclectic place, Comillas. This town is much more than a simple and charming town on the Cantabrian coast of the Cantabrian Sea. It seems a normal town but there are a lot of things to see and it is known especially for its University, that's the only thing I knew... but I discovered that there is much more, specifically many nice buildings for which we love to observe architecture wherever we go, and also an unique surprise.
We start with the panoramic view from afar, arriving and I realize that the building of the famous Comillas Pontifical University, highly reputed in the past, now located in Madrid although it continues to be the Seminary. This big building has a lot of history and it is of a recognizable modernist style almost even from afar. And it is there at the top but it is being restored so a more detailed visit is not feasible, but it doesn't matter, not much time to visit all this time and there is a lot to see just by walking through its streets.
Perhaps the most important and striking thing was another couple of buildings closer but equally not accessible as it was holidays then, a pity. I was only able to enjoy the façade of the Sobrellano Palace or also called the Palace of the Marquis of Comillas, now a museum. But on the outside it is very elegant and has a beautiful neogothic style that, right at that green meadow, transports us to another era. Next to him rivals a pointed tower, what is it? It is the chapel-pantheon of the Marquises of Comillas, of the same style, notable for its decoration. Again, a pity that on vacation days it was closed.
These constructions were carried out by a Catalan architect, Joan Martorell, from another region of Spain (Catalonia) and he was not the only one, also the famous Antonio Gaudí (the creator of the Sagrada Familia, Sacred Family, in Barcelona) left his mark here, like Gaudí's Capricho (caprice) of course with its peculiar and characteristic modernist style but that we did not have time to see, but instead another place that I will talk about soon because it caught my attention.
But we must also highlight the work of a sculptor, Josep Llimona, also a Catalan who left behind an iconic work that I love (I'll tell you this at the end of the post).
Well, we continue on because despite all that there is still a lot to see, walking we simply discover large old houses, of different styles, some seem alpine and others almost oriental. And many noble, while imposing above all those large family houses of the past where the vegetation has also taken center stage. As they have taken in many others, especially their typical glazed balconies in these lands, the mountain style, as well as many times we will see more heraldic shields carved in the stone of many of those very special facades.
And here there is still life, and shops and businesses, and balconies cheerfully decorated with flowers on a gray day, and also the closer we get to the church, which like others in the region is very sober in style, here the interiors are not lavishly decorated but the opposite. The most striking thing inside was the large Nativity that was temporarily placed for the holidays and a Virgin Mary full of light.
But behind extremely elegant 19th-century lampposts, the streets go uphill, and from there we have more perspective, we see the sea and some deserted streets at those moments that will take us to a work by Gaudí that I would like to talk about in more detail, in another post.
But still now the best to be shown! Actually it was the first thing I saw when I arrived at Comillas and what I liked the most and I wanted to keep that surprise for the final part.
I found surprised this place magical, serene and very special. A somewhat bucolic environment where the memory of some souls rests facing the sea, on the ruins of an old 15th century gothic monastery, but where some of the tombs seem like true works of art. And suddenly the sculptural art becomes pure spirit, in this peculiar and unique place, sometimes cemeteries can be surprising places.
And between the religious and spiritual, we look at the sky and there it is, it is the Exterminating Angel, by the Catalan sculptor Josep Llimona (1895), it is without a doubt my favorite figure.
A sculpture that says it all with its strength and its life, that makes us feel something intense and true inside of us, impacts us and reminds us of many things, so we remember that art is more than matter, and like life is divine.
The text is totally mine, by ©Duvinca
and all the photos are mine too!
