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Machinery Ingenio Rosario (1885)
The tourist tradition in the district of Medio Cudeyo is closely linked to the Solares Spa, to such an extent that the town itself developed
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Water Solares Spa
around the use of these mineralmedicinal waters.
services at the disposal of the citizens. The tourist resource par excellence,
The waters from the Fuencaliente Spring are
the driving force of Medio Cudeyo,
used for a wide range of activities: bottling
is its Spa and its power of attraction
factory, leisure and curing physical illnesses.
is such that it justifies the speciali-
Water, in the mythological concept of the uni-
sation in thermal tourism of the
verse, is a productive, creative and fecund
entire district. Based on the deve-
element and it is precisely at Medio Cudeyo
lopment of the health tourism mar-
where it has become the basis of one of the
ket, the district must make the most
first tourist initiatives.
of its image as a thermal bath centre based on the quality of the en-
The Solares spa tradition goes back to the
vironment, its resources and of the
XVIII century, when the existence of thermal baths used for the treatment of stomach problems and nervous ailments was mentioned in the Ensenada Land Registry in 1753. The first bath establishment opened in 1827 and soon extended to eight bathing establishments and a covered gallery with a fountain and a treelined avenue.
ﾃ］az Bridge
A hotel also opened to cater for the accommodation of customers, together with a number of inns, guesthouses and boarding houses. Towards the end of the XIX century, the architect Carlos Velasco made improvements to the Spa to adapt it to a new luxury
Heras Reservoir
and elitist trend. With this in view, a bathing area in the Neo-Mudejar and Eastern style was built based on the model of other spas, such as the French spa at Biarritz. The Solares Spa Grand Hotel was built in 1902. This is the work of the architect Lavín Casalís
that combines modernist and historical elements, especially the large “liberty” windows on the ground floor, the stucco on the facade and the bolsters and cresting on the outside. A round kiosk was added to the spa and hotel in the park, providing the whole with
Ríver Miera
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Water
a garden area where guests could walk. The end of the XIX and beginning of the XX centuries marked the age of splendour of the Solares Spa, when visitors did not necessarily come to treat any type of illness but to use the spa as a summer and leisure resort, the embryo of so-called "thermal tourism". Solares then became the most outstanding Spa in Cantabria and one of the main establishments in the north of the country until it closed in 1976. After far-reaching improvements in 2006, the Hotel Balneario de Solares opened and is now part of the hotel offer in the thermal sector, basing its business on elegance and comfort.
Solares Spa
Solares Spa
Cub贸n washhouse-Sobremazas
The natural resources of the district include outstanding ecological and landscape values. The landscape is dominated by the mass of Peña
WE ARE
Earth Heras landscape
Cabarga, a limestone formation with numerous karstic elements and where Holm oak and eucalyptus tree grow. Peña Cabarga forms an excellent background for Santander Bay and is a viewpoint from
and who has established towns and industries that have permanently deformed the natural environment by introducing a clearly urban aspect.
where the coastline of Cantabria
In general, the landscape is defined by the
can be enjoyed.
limestone mass of Peña Cabarga, which pro-
The rest of the district features the
vides the entire area with a peculiar outlook.
result of the interaction between
Apart from this massif, other natural resources
native vegetable species (mainly
found in the Medio Cudeyo district include the
oak forests) and man, who has
headwaters of the Cubón Spring, where part
transformed the most productive
of the former mining railway line is preserved;
areas into pastures and grasslands
the Solía and San Salvador marshes, which are first-class areas for bird-watching; Mount Castillo, which features the remains of a medieval site on its peak and that was declared an Asset of Cultural Interest in 2002; the Heras Reservoir, originally used to wash minerals; the banks of the Pámanes and Miera rivers,
View of Hermosa
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Earth
catalogued as Sites of Community Interest
species such as hazels, hawthorn, ash trees,
(SCI); and the property of the Marquis of
birch trees, chestnut trees, maples; all for-
Valdecilla, recently acquired by the Town
ming small concentrations or, frequently,
Council and that includes excellent speci-
isolated. There are also privet trees, blac-
mens of oak trees, American oak, magnolia
kthorn, elder, blackberry bushes, wild roses
trees, Atlantic cedars, palm trees, lime trees,
and a number of liana and climbing plants,
Holm oak, sorb trees, laurels and eucalyptus
such as bryony and honeysuckle.
trees.
Grasslands and pastures predominate in
The district presents three large areas that,
the northern region. The mountainsides
in turn, feature three types of vegetation:
present fertile lands with an excellent
the Peña Cabarga Massif; the northern area
provision of water and small luxurious woods
between Peña Cabarga and the Solía and
of great interest. Eucalyptus trees give way
San Salvador rivers; and the southern area
to small clumps of oak forests, with a great
between Cabarga and the border of the
variety of trees and bushes; the remains of
district.
ancient vegetation and abandoned crops. The San Salvador tidal river, with its marshy
The Peña Cabarga Massif is a limestone outcrop that has been repeatedly reforested with Eucalyptus trees. The areas that feature higher levels of humidity and greater soil
landscape washed by the tides and affected by sea salt, is important for the biodiversity it harbours, especially birds and invertebrates.
quality present vestiges of the ancient dominance of oak trees, with a court of other
Pastures
Regata park-Ceceñas
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Earth
We must also mention the riverbank vegetation along the Pámanes and Miera rivers, which, in certain sections, can be considered full-scale woods. These are species linked to water courses, damp areas, riverbanks... A locally significant mass of water is the Heras-Sobremazas Reservoir. Located on the course of the Cubón Spring, it features a greater diversity of species than other Solía marsh-San Salvador
nearby areas. However, the area nearest the water is incapable of maintaining stable
routes through the district and that include
vegetable species given the slope of the
a number of cultural heritage elements along
banks, which prevents the typical grass
the way. We can mention the routes along
plants and bushes of this type of habitat
the Miera River banks, Sierra Hermosa, the
from taking root, directly affecting the stable
Mining Railway line, Cubón Spring, Peña
residence of birds in this area.
Cabarga, the Route to Santiago and the Marshes. There is even a 22.5 km. route
All these natural and landscape resources can be enjoyed by following a number of
that links each one of the ten villages found in the district. All these routes are easy to follow, enabling visitors to embark on a number of activities such as photography, landscape painting, bird-watching, fishing, potholing and even botany.
Former railway line-San Vitores
The history of Medio Cudeyo goes back to the "Merinidad de Trasmiera", of which the Council of Cudeyo
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History
formed part. This term comes from Marquis of Valdecilla
the Castrum Cultellum that the Romans seem to have built on Mount
organisational-administrative nature. The said
Castillo and that is based on its
Alfoz became, towards the end of the XIV
shape that resembles a knife. The
century, the Junta de Cudeyo, which comprised
district that is known today as Me-
twenty-seven villages grouped into three districts
dio Cudeyo was once Crown land
(La Marina, Enmedio and Allendelagua). The
surrounding medieval churches
District of Medio Cudeyo appeared in 1814
and monasteries (San Miguel de
based on the segregation of a number of coun-
Heras, San Víctor,Santa María de
cils that formed part of the Junta de Cudeyo.
Cudeyo).
The chronological scope of Medio Cudeyo
In the XII century, the so-called
covers from extremely early periods based on
“Alfoz de Cudio” existed as a type
archaeological sites, of which we can mention
of association of councils of an
the Castilnegro Fort (1st century B.C.) and Castillo Mountain (VII-XI centuries), to the first decades of the XX century, when the so-called "Indiano" houses were built; a type of house found in many villages in this district. Among the churches of Medio Cudeyo, we can mention Santa María de Cudeyo, the patron saint of the district, which features a stone
Former school of Ánaz
sepulchre of a knight inside.
The religious architecture also includes
Cudeyo were the families that made their
simply chapels and the building of the Co-
fortune in America and then used part of
fradía de la Vera Cruz (Association of the
their wealth to build large houses in which
True Cross), built at the beginning of the
to reside when they visited their native land.
XVII century on one of the branch routes on the Route to Santiago.
We must mention the Plaza de la Marquesa (Marquesa Square) in Nájera, with its cob-
Concerning civil architecture, we can hig-
bled streets, stone benches and street-lights
hlight the Alvarado Tower in Heras. During
from London. The square is surrounded by
the second half of the XVII century, a number
a number of houses in the regional style
of monumental baroque mansions were
with wooden balconies and gable ends,
built, such as those belonging to Ibáñez de
including La Tudanca, the former residence
la Riva Herrera or to the Marquis of Valbue-
of the Marchioness.
na and Rubalcaba. The mansions of the Cuetos and Portilla were built in the XVIII century in Sobremazas. From the end of the XIX century we have the Mansion of the Earl of Torreánaz. A driving force in the architecture of Medio
The railway station was built in 1891 coinciding with the greatest period of splendour of the Solares Spa. This project influenced the development of a railway and industrial look that can be seen in some houses in the La Estación neighbourhood in Heras,
Former Solares Spa
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History
Casa Vial in Valdecilla or the Casino in
the one named after him in the town of
Solares, which were built in the modernist
Valdecilla. He also paid part of the construc-
style. Towards the middle of the XIX century,
tion of the schools of San Salvador in the
Ramón Pelayo de la Torriente (Marquis of
district of Medio Cudeyo, which opened in
Valdecilla) was born in Valdecilla. When he
1909 as well as the Marquis de Valdecilla
was only fourteen years old, he emigrated
University Hospital. But it is in the Property
to Cuba and, thanks to his business abilities
of the Marquis of Valdecilla where Medio
he soon became a significant industrial force
Cudeyo enjoys the most relevant testimony
on the island. He travelled to the United
of the figure and work of this most outstan-
States, where he studied and acquired te-
ding neighbour. Its cultural and natural fea-
chnical knowledge on large industrial cen-
tures, its location only 15 km. from Santan-
tres. He married and acquired a small sugar
der, its nearness to the most popular
cane plantation in the district of Aguacate,
beaches or to attractions such as the Ca-
known as Batey Rosario. Meanwhile, he
bárceno Nature Park.
also began to build on his property in Valdecilla what would become his home when he returned from Cuba in 1920. He then sold Ingenio Rosario and settled in his home town until his death in 1932.
This 147,910 m2 property includes six buildings: La Casa Blanca, La Casuca, San Rafael, El Garaje, La Cabaña and La Solana. The main entrance is through a stone portico featuring the coat of arms of
The Marquis embarked on many charity projects and sponsored the construction of
the ancient house of Los Quintana from Penagos.
a number of schools in Cantabria, including
Bottling Solares Water
Aerial view of Sobremazas-La Tudanca
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We are water because we live in one of the most traditional thermal towns in Spain. The splendour and importance of Solares in the XIX
What you want us to be Mount Castillo
century has been restored today to offer our guests the possibility of enjoying a unique experience.
We are earth because Medio Cudeyo features beautiful landscapes and sites where one may enjoy pleasant walks and the traditional hospitality of the peoples of this land. And all this seasoned with the prestigious gastronomy of the land.
View of San Rafael-Estate of Marquis of Valdecilla
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What you want us to be
We are history because we treasure a rich and diverse cultural heritage - from prehistoric sites to eighteenth and nineteenth century mansions, vestiges of our recent aristocratic and gentlemanly past. The birthplace of illustrious people such as Ram贸n Pelayo de la Torriente, Marquis of Valdecilla; an outstanding benefactor and philanthropist.
Church in Hermosa
Coat of Arms of Los Puebla-Santiago de Cudeyo
View of Pe帽a Cabarga From Santander
We are what you want us to be... Spa, Golf
found at the viewpoint located on Pico Ca-
Course, Property of the Marquis of Valdeci-
barga and that projects a three dimensional
lla, Natural and Cultural Heritage, Country
image into the monument of the magnificent
Tourism and, all in all, a myriad of charming
views that can be enjoyed.
views to be discovered at the Dark Chamber
View from Sierra Hermosa
View of Mount Castillo
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What you want us to be
La Casa Blanca-Estate of Marquis of Valdecilla