The High Middle Ages is the period when the demographic, urban and artisticevolution began in Santillana del Mar which has led to the present.
After construction of the Abbey of Santa Juliana, in the IX century, Santillana became a center of economic and religious importance.
The urban development occurs around what became la Colegiata de Santa Juliana and along the street known as calle del Rey, currently divided into the streets of Rio, Canton and Carrera. From this period also came the creation of today's current street Juan Infante, which as you head towards la Plaza del Mercado (now Plaza Mayor), forms the current urban distribution of Santillana in the form of a "Y".
The most representative buildings of this period are the Merino and DonBorja Towers, both gothic style and have a military character. The first was the seat of merino, representative of the king, since in 1209 Santillana was granted the capital of Asturias de Santillana, encompassing all the current western Cantabria except Liébana.
Other buildings were initiated at this time the Casa de Leonor de la Vega, mother of the first Marquis of Santillana and the Velarde Tower.
SANTILLANA RENAISSANCE AND BAROQUE
The outstanding examples of Renaissance architecture in Santillana are the Velarde Palace, located in Plaza de las Arenas. From the mid XVI century, noted for its stepped gable facade and decorative finials and its plateresque balcony with wide lintel and blustered columns. At the Casa de la Parra the same trim is repeated with pinnacles typical of the era.
In the Baroque period there is a gradual consolidation of the religious character ofSantillana del Mar. The Order of Dominicans try to settle in the Palacio de Las Arenas in the late XVI century, but when they met with opposition from the canons of la Colegiata de Santa Juliana, they went and settled on the outskirts of the town under the protection of the Duke of Infantado, then built the Regina Coeli Convent, which now houses the headquarters of the Diocesan Museum of Santander. From an artistic point of view, the monastery is a model of Gothic and Renaissance style influenced by Herrera.
In the XVII century a baroque convent was built, las dominicas de San Ildefonso.
The resurgence of Santillana del Mar, thanks to the money from America, coincided with the construction of mansions and palaces on the hill that combines classicism with baroque ostentation. A clear example of this type of construction are the homes of los Villa, los Bustamante, los Tagle or the most outstanding one Casa de los Hombrones.
Apart from its architectural style, one must include the outstanding presence of the Peredo Barreda Palace, now the headquarters of the Caja Cantabria Foundation, which has recently been restored. It’s worth noting the great value of its library, furnishings, collections and valuable genealogical neoclassical paintings. Also of this era such represented buildings such as laCasa Consistorial, la Casa de Valdivieso, la Casa de Sánchez-Tagle, La Casa de los Villa or la Casa de los Barreda-Bracho, today converted into el Parador Nacional Gil Blas.
