Norte de España – Cantabria

Our current home base in Bilbao (pop 351,124 in 2025) is close enough to plan a day trip into Cantabria, the next autonomous region to the west. Though Frank Gehry's passing is the initial catalyst for this trip, next month (June 10th) is the centennial of the passing of Antoni Gaudí, and a journey to the village of Comillas (pop 2075 in 2025) is a chance to honor that great architect as well (Note: construction crews attempted to complete the Sagrada Familia for this centennial, but the schedule was delayed by COVID; instead, on June 10th, Papa León XIV will bless the Torre de Jesucristo, which is recently finished and makes the Sagrada Familia the tallest church in the world @ 172.5m).

So we hire a driver-guide to take us to El Capricho (Villa Quijano, 1883-85), one of Gaudí's earliest designs, about an hour and a half away. The design dates from the same period as the Casa Vicens (1883-88) in Barcelona (we saw in 2019), soon after Gaudí's graduation in 1878. Beyond El Capricho, Comillas is known for its collection of 'Modernismo' masterpieces, due primarily to the money and drive of Antonio López y López, the first Marqués de Comillas. The Marqués' return from the Americas (Cuba) follows a lucrative career in banking and trading in (among other things) tobacco and slaves; the Spanish term for these repatriating entrepreneurs is 'Indianos'.

Upon his return, the Marqués hires Joan Martorell to build the Palacio de Sobrellano (1881-88). Martorell engages young Gaudí to make the house's furniture. He also appoints Gaudí's friend and classmate, Cristóbal Cascante, to supervise the site. All these personalities are interconnected in multiple ways: the Marqués is also the father-in-law of Eusebi Güell, one of Gaudí's earliest patrons in Barcelona; El Capricho's client, Máximo Díaz de Quijano, is a lawyer in the Compañía Transatlántico, one the Marqués' businesses in Cuba (he also becomes his brother-in-law). Both born in the area, the Marqués and Quijano employ their fortunes to remake Comillas as a destination worthy of royalty. And this attracts a close-knit cadre of impactful Spanish architectural talent. The Neo-Gothic spire of the neighboring Capilla-Panteón del Palacio de Sobrellano (Martorell, 1880-81) leads us along the carriageway.

El Capricho reflects Quijano's interest in music and Gaudí's interest in natural forms: "una casa en clave de sol" (house in the key of the sun). Like a sunflower, the house 'follows' the sun from east to west, with a heat-preserving invernadero (winter garden) on the south side. For example, the vegetal forms in the tower's ironwork can also be read as musical clefs and staves.

The entrance to El Capricho is from the west, through the pórtico under the torre-minarete. The radial corbels and the stepped arches reflect the modularity of the tiles, like the seeds of a girasol (sunflower) – an obvious and repeated theme for the house. Palm fronds and birds cover the capitals of the columns. The vestíbulo doors are topped with a tripartite stained-glass panel filled with leaves, framed by geometric forms – math and nature in harmony.

The alcoves and recessed ceiling echo this geometry, and bring us to one end of the invernadero, where the white framework and polished floor form a bright backdrop for the many green plants. We turn to the right and enter the cenador (dining, or sala de juego), a large rectangular room with a semi-curcular alcove facing the western lawn – the room where Quijano would have ended his day with a meal, relaxed with cards, or retreated to the alcove for a smoke.

A trinchero (sideboard, c1880) by Cascante stands against the wall, looking right at home. A beautiful, slow combustion fireplace incorporates abstracted floral tiles and ironwork along with the room's paneled wood wainscot. Insects and birds inhabit the vines in the tile border of the belt course, with roses and other native flowers in the ceiling coffers.

The substantial window sashes are in extremely good shape and trimmed with robust brass hardware. They are a musical feature of the house as well; the counterweights are intended by Gaudí to work as bells and ring when the sashes operate.

From the cenador we step out to the jardín sur. This is a narrow, terraced landscape formed by tall retaining wall made of the same earthy yellow bricks as the house but laid on a diagonal. The bricks repeat the stepped corbels, but the chamfers, the stairs, and the lower bench panels are tiled in plain white. The upper courses and raised planters are dressed with the baldosas de girasol.

The invernadero is a recent reconstruction and is a reminder of the house's tragic history. The building's completion in 1885 coincides with Quijano's death; it is said he was able to enjoy his new summer house for only a few days. In 1914, the invernadero is torn down to add rooms for workers, as the original design includes only one bedroom. During the Civil War, the house is abandoned and falls into disrepair. In 1988, the house is rehabilitated as a restaurant, and the invernadero is rebuilt as a dining room. Finally, in 2010, El Capricho reopens as a museum.

We leave the jardín sur and pause in the invernadero. Toward the east is a curving stair heading down to the basement. A hexagonal birdcage hangs overhead. The space is full of potted plants; we can imagine that they might move indoors and outdoors. Otherwise, the space has too many to be useful.

We step through the invernadero and find the main dormitorio on the east side of the house; this is where the day begins. The room is large, nearly the full depth of the house. A matching aparador (sideboard, c1880) by Cascante occupies the near corner. Another fireplace fills the other, with a light green color scheme, like early buds as opposed to the red blossom in the tiles of the cenador.

The walls have tall baseboards, but no wainscoting. The ceiling includes dressed joists, diagonally crossed bridging, and lovely 'seedpod' buttons with gold finials. But the general decorative level is toned down. A double-leaf door leads out to the east-facing terrace. The railing also looks like a clef, though a bass clef rather than the treble clef at the torre-minarete – though they also look like rest marks, which is appropriate for the dormitorio.

The sala de baño takes up the northeast corner. The eastern portion of the room is covered with white tiles with roundels that resemble simplified 'girasol' tiles. The wainscot reappears, but with marble panels rather than wood, and the floor is a polychrome stone tile as well. A north-facing window includes four pieces of stained-glass with images of a bird and a bee; the bird is on the black keys of an organ keyboard.

Continuing to the west, we find the estudio, a kind of office and guest room next to the sala de baño. The window treatments include a set of counter-weighted tambour blinds. But the key feature of this room is an angled balcony with an overhanging bench made from iron dowels facing this room and the next, functioning as both a room extension (think theater box) and an outdoor corridor.

Sitting on the bench, our guide asks from the salón principal how he sounds – he sounds fine, and that is the intent. We are outside but still able to hear and be part of the gathering.

The salón principal is a long, vaulted space directly opposite the invernadero. The areas between the vault beams seem to be filled with loose boards, some of which are water stained – there is even some daylight leaking at the lower seams. This is clearly not in keeping with the aesthetic of the house; we assume these are temporary or filler pieces (possibly left from the restaurant; hard to imagine Gaudí would not have wanted decorative or glass panels).

Four communicating lights facing south carry a similar corbeled treatment to the vestíbulo. and contribute an open feeling to the room.

Joined by another angled balcony and bench, the sala de visitas, a receiving room, is next door. The decorative elements here are interesting, with carved wood accents and metalwork buttons on the wainscot rail. This completes the sequence back to the vestíbulo, a series of rooms arranged like petals around the central invernadero.

We take the winding stairs up to the desván (attic). This level, the zonas de servicio (for the use of the house staff), is split in two by the vaulted ceiling of the salón principal. We arrive first in the eastern rooms which consists of a long room over the estudio and the sala de baño, and a wide loft over the dormitorio. The space is cut by the crossed members of the 'tijera' (scissor) roof trusses. Several thin dormer windows provide natural light and ventilation.

The outline of the pasillo (corridor) of the invernadero is repeated as a kind of slender roof terrace, though this feature allows close inspection of the roof construction and details: the stepped pediments with the 'girasol' accents and the green ridge tiles which to mimic plant stalks. We imagine the servants stepping out for a quick break with a view of the jardín sur before taking their master his tea.

The western desván, over the sala de visitas, the vestíbulo, and the cenador, feels airier. A radial stair provides access to an upper ring balcony, which in tunr provides access to the internal stair of the torre-minarete.

There is a semi-circular terrace over the west-facing alcove, with built-in bench seating and a 'bass clef' railing like the one by the dormitorio, with a clear view of Martorell's Capilla-Panteón above the slope of the carriageway. The north-facing windows also provide a view of Lluís Domènech i Montaner's Cementerio de Comillas (c1893), with Josep Llimona's sculpture "El Ángel Exterminador" hovering over the walls.

The room also exhibits examples of Gaudí's furniture, quite different from Cascante's. From twenty years in his future, these pieces, such as the "Sillón Doble Casa Batló" (1904-06) and the "Banco Casa Calvet" (1900-01), illustrate Gaudí's continued interest in organic forms, but the expression is more confident, more experimental.

We use the stairs in the invernadero to descend to the semisótano (ground floor). Here, the museum concludes with a video and a photographic presentation of El Capricho's history as well as the gift shop.

Our guide drives by the Martorell's Palacio de Sobrellano, but the gates are closed; it's Monday. The Palacio is set among other large houses behind a large public park, the Parque Municipal – his lawyer was not the only successful friend the Marqués convinced to build in Comillas. At the west side of the park, the road hits a roundabout, and the Universidad comes into view.

The Universidad Pontificia Comillas (Seminario Pontificio de San Antonio de Padua; Martorell, Montaner, Enrique Fort y Guyenet and Antonio Palacios, 1882-1946) changes the scale of the whole town; we think the Palacio is big, but this is something else. The Universidad is the Marqués' passion project, his way of paying it forward: a school for the children of Comillas. As the project is developed, a local Jesuit, Tomás Gómez Carral, convinces the Marqués to instead build the Seminario. After the Marqués' passing in 1883, the project is founded by Papa León XIII in 1890 in the Marqués' honor; it is then elevated to Universidad Pontificia by Papa Pío X in 1904.

The project is executed in a series of construction phases: Seminario Mayor (1882), Seminario Menor (1912), Colegio Máximo (1944) and Colegio Hispanoamericano (1946).

The Seminario Mayor is the oldest component, started by Martorell, supervised by Cascante, then by Montaner on Cascante's (1889) and Martorell's (1906) deaths. Thus, the design is a monumental blending of Neo-Gothic, Mudéjar, and Modernismo: patterned brick coursing, rubble stone infill, corbeled windows under pointed stone arches, thick buttresses, trefoil lancets, all on a meticulously manicured hill.

The south-facing main facade looks over the valley with spectacular views of Montaner's Palacio and Capilla, and El Capricho. Even the parking lot has an ocean view.

The "La Puerta de las Virtudes" is the beautiful, bronze doorway in the center of the facade. The design is by Montaner (signed in the lower left; cast by Masriera y Campins, marked in the lower right). The Marqués' coat of arms is at the top, with the Christogram of the Jesuits below. The leaves of the thistle refer to La Cardosa, the name of the hill, while the clover refers to the Santísima Trinidad.

The relief figures represent the seven virtues and and the seven sins (left to right, top):

• "Largueza" (generosity) is a female figure giving alms, "Avaricia" (greed) is a bird with a turtle;
• "Castidad" (chastity) is a female figure with a lily, "Lujuria" (lust) is a monkey;
• "Paciencia" (patience) is a female figure with hands bound, "Ira" (wrath) is a viper;
• "Diligencia" (diligence) is a female metalworker, "Pereza" (sloth) is a dormouse;
• "Caridad" (charity) is a nun with open arms, "Envidia" (envy) is a lizard;
• "Templanza" (temperance) is a figure with bread and water, "Gula" (gluttony) is a pig; and
• "Humildad" (humility) is represented by María of the Anunciación, "Soberbia" (pride) is represented by the ornate door (according to the visitor's guide).

The carved stone figures above the door hold the Diez Mandamientos (Old Testament, left) and the Eucaristía (New Testament, right).

Inside the vestiíbulo , the symbols of the Jesuits and the vegetal motifs repeat in esgrafiado wall decorations, sandwiched between the dark woods of the carved ceiling and the scalloped wainscot. The lobby on the right (east) joined to the (former) library, and on the left (west) to the natural science museum. The esgrafiado pattern is a faux curtain with the repeated Christogram.

An elaborate stone screen separates the vestiíbulo from the stairs, with the symbols of the Cuatro Evangelistas: the león of San Marcos and the ángel of San Mateo facing the vestiíbulo, and the toro of San Lucas and the águila of San Juan facing the escalera.

Our guide relates the story of the wide, unsupported arch that connects the two landings. Evidently, some vocal doubters did not believe the structure would hold, and when it did, Montaner added the mice and the cat in the springer blocks to show what his audacity had achieved (referring to Samaniego's "El Congreso de los Ratones").

As we ascend the escalera principal, we get our first look at the decorative program of the stair hall, and it is a full program. At either end, the coats of arms for the Papa (east) and the Marqués (west), rendered in enormous stained-glass panels, are above each landing.

The ceiling over the stairs is a deep wood screen held by two layers of sculptedbrackets and columns. Fantastical animals sprout from the ends of the lower brackets. The coffers between the upper brackets form a row of quatrefoil openings, connected by hexagonal cross beams and a center row of hexafoils. According to the visitor's guide:

The animals are a reference to Psalm 148, a song in praise of God for creation: "Praise ye the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the heights. […] Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps […] Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl.

In contrast to the cacophony above, the lower walls are smooth, and calmly patterned, with paintings by Eduard Llorens i Masdeu on the walls: the female figure holding a chalice and a Bible personifies "Theologia" and the figure with a skull and parchment is "Philosofia" (c1891).

The ceiling over the upper landing is a direct 'Jesuit' reinterpretation of a Mudejár latticework in dark wood and gold. A short stone bridge connects the upper landing to a doorway into the Capilla, topped with angel-musicians.

La Capilla Doméstica de San Ignacio is an intimate worship space for the faculty. Two angels by Llorens flank the altarpiece and a small rosetón. The design of the space is more Neo-Gothic than Modernismo or Mudejár: pointed arches, lancet forms in the wainscot, lancet windows in the clerestory (on the north side), and another small rosetón at the back.

A thin door near the back provides a glimpse of the exterior of the apse of the Iglesia. The walls are covered with a 'fish-scale' grid floral designs, interwoven with strips of "ave-ma-ria", and overlaid by a grid of blistered bubbles with the Christogram – all in gold and blue.

The paraninfo is across the escalera principal to the south. This is a larger, double-height room setup like a conference room of chapter hall. The walls are split by a narrow gallery on three side. Above the gallery is a tall frieze of one hundred and one figures by Llorens, conveniently labeled with a continuous banner.

On the west wall, Moses leads the parade, holding the tablets. Samson, wresting a lion, is just in front of "La Arca de la Alianza" and its attendants, then David (with harp) Daniel and other Old Testament personalities. Over the door, the symbols for the Cuatro Evangelistas pulls a wagon carrying the "Triunfo de Jesucristo", with Maria and San José. San Pedro and San Pablo lead the Apóstoles in the next group.

Turning now at the door, we see the three Gothic windows from the south facade and the pair at the front of the entire procession: Adán and Eva.

The tour makes a brief stop in the claustro este. A 'templete' resembling a double-bay, brick ciborium stands in the center. The Neo-Gothic rhythms and warm tones of the brick and stucco are repeated here from the outward-facing sides.

The upper part of the eastern side of the Iglesia rises above this with its cool cast of the 'fish-scale' tiles. On the other three sides, a contemporary intervention, with a concrete roof extension and glass enclosure, caps the sides of the claustro este.

 

The sacristía contains furniture by Cascante; the space is tied together with a lovely painted frieze and brackets with carved griffins, their mouths agape. We access the chancel of the Iglesia del Seminario Mayor up a flight of steps and are surrounded by its richly ornamented interior. Five pairs of stained-glass window show the twelve Apóstoles, with San Pablo and San Pedro in the center panel. Barnabus and Mathias are squeezed out of the glass on the left (Evangelist side), and Bartholomeus and Simon on the right (Epistle side).

A polychrome mosaic covers the steps leading to the chancel: the astrological signs against a field of stars, the 'Alfa y Omega', and the word "Fiat" (let it be) at the center. On the side, the Latin phrases "Produca terra animam viventem" (left) and "Germinet terra" (right) make a reference to "La Creación de Génesis". The mosaics continue into the nave, with the signifiers of the Cuatro Evangelistas on the four side of the Agnus Dei at the center, and "AMDG" near the entrance.

 

 

The entrance of the Iglesia features "La Puerta de San Jorge". San Jorge on the left-hand leaf rides against the stylized El Dragón on the right. The doors are embossed brass as evidenced by the delicate low relief and the hammered finish and based on a design by Montaner. At the top, it reads, "Domus Dei Porta Cœli". (Genesis 28:17)

On either side of the door surround, "Vanitas" is shown as both a beautiful, rich, young woman and a dead skeleton with the same headdress and necklace.

The tympanums of the front (north) facade of the Iglesia include roundels for the Cuatro Evangelistas and Sagrado Corazón de Jesús at the center (may be related to Papa León XIII and Marian visions in Porto, Portugal).

Before leaving Comillas, we stop at Montaner's Cementerio to get a better look at Llimona's "El Ángel Exterminador". The Cementerio is closed with security tape and appears to need of repair. The marker in front reads:

The cemetery stands on the ruins of the ancient church of the village. It was refurbished by Doménech, who designed the high surrounding stone walls decorated with pinnacles and the splendid entrance with its wrought-iron gate. He also opened the walls of the ancient temple to insert various arches.

Besides, he added a marble sculpture designed by Limona. It was said that this, the Guardian Angel, was first planned to guard the mausoleum of the first marquis of Comillas for his eldest child. But Antonio López y López offered it to the town as a monument, which represents the lost souls of the entire of Comillas.

The stoop of the Cementerio gives just enough height for a good view of the "Monumento al Marqués de Comillas" (Montaner & Cascante, 1878; also undergoing repair), and "La Casa del Duque de Almodóvar del Río" (Francisco Hernández-Rubio, 1899-1902) on the nearby hill overlooking the ocean – in 1898, the Duque de Almodóvar del Río is also Ministro de Estado during the Tratado de Paris, which grants independence to Cuba.

Before leaving Cantabria, we stop in Santillana del Mar (pop 4,189 in 2025) for a wonderful lunch and a leisurely walk in the medieval streets. The big, important homes all have oversized heraldic reliefs; though fascinating, many look too clean and crisp to be medieval pieces.

The street widens to a triangular intersection at the Plaza Mayor. On the west side, the "Casa del Águila" (de los Estrada, 17th century) shows an eagle crest, while the crest on the "Ayuntamiento" (city hall) includes the crown. The Plaza features two four-story 'towers': the "Torre de Don Borja" (15th century) to the north and the imposing "Torre del Merino" (14th century) to the east – though its battlements are now roofed-over.

The cobbled streets, with an unusual 'gridded' construction, offer focused views of the surrounding hills. The Casa de los Polanco y Lasso de la Vega (15th century) connects several families and thus has several coats of arms; it is now a five-star hotel (there was a Ferrari out front) called the Casa del Marques, though the Casa is where the Marqués' mother lived (Leonor de la Vega).

Two of the largest and most elaborate shields are near the Colegiata on the Calle del Río. The figures on the "Mercado de Santa Juliana" stand atop demons with corn-cob-like tails. A pair of lions are also standing on horn-playing chimeras on the "Casa Quevedo" (17th century) and adds a separate head above the lintel with something in its mouth.

The Colegiata y Claustro de Santa Juliana (9th-11th centuries), on the other hand, looks authentically medieval, the figures in its frieze are weathered and smooth. Many of the Apóstoles are missing their heads. This may be unintentionally appropriate as, the Colegiata contains the relics of Santa Juliana de Nicomedia third century virgin martyr who was beheaded (among other tortures). She is represented by the figurine in the pediment holding a winged devil by a chain.

We end our tour by circling the Colegiata. We pass the Palacio de Velarde (15th-16th centuries), one of the 'newer', more monumental buildings in town, especially sited on the open Plaza las Arenas. This brings us to the apse of the Colegiata, with its stunning semi-circular forms and banded archivolts.

After a long day, our driver-guide, who lives near Santander, tag-teams with a partner who takes us back to Bilbao. It's been a long day, but the fresh driver is full of conversation, and we continue hearing about the wonder of Cantabria all the way.

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