Santander after the 1941 fire: from the cathedral to the bay: a self-guided walk
By Alleytale
The city rebuilt after the 1941 fire
The fire destroyed most of the medieval town in two days. The centre was replanned and the main rebuilding was practically complete by 1954, with a new street and a new porticoed square, while a few older buildings and corners are still standing.
The stops
Santander Cathedral stands on the Somorrostro hill, over the old Abbey of the Holy Bodies, and its structure is mainly Gothic. The 1941 fire began near the docks on Calle Cádiz, and the flames soon reached the cathedral, which sits on the highest ground and became a powerful source of fire spread to the nearby streets. It lost most of its treasures, and repair and rebuilding ran from 1942 until it reopened in 1953.
Photo: Fernando — CC BY-SA 4.0 This baroque church was begun in 1757 on the foundations of the old hospital of San Pedro, with a gift of 212,558 reales from the Mexican indiano Pedro Corbán de la Vega, and it was blessed and opened for worship in 1774. It is listed among the notable buildings of the Cabildo de Arriba and its surroundings, an area of medieval origin that the 1941 fire spared, as it did Calle Arrabal and Calle de Enmedio.
Photo: Zarateman — CC0 The 1941 fire destroyed Santander's old town hall, but it was stopped before it reached the council's headquarters here. The original building, designed in 1897 by Julio Martínez-Zapata, was inaugurated on 15 September 1907 and was only half the size of today's. Work on the second half began in 1963, and the finished building was inaugurated again in 1967.
Photo: Zarateman — CC0 Designed by Eduardo Reynals and Juan Moya in 1897 and opened on 10 April 1904, this market hall is described as one of the few large examples of 19th-century iron architecture preserved in Spain. After the 1941 fire it had its first major restoration, because the wind had broken its windows. It was declared a historic-artistic monument in 1977.
Photo: Emilio Gómez Fernández — CC BY-SA 4.0 A Franciscan convent stood on this site from the 13th century until it was pulled down in 1896 to make room for the market and the town hall. The 17th-century church that was left was later demolished to extend the town hall, and the present church was designed by the Santander architect Javier González de Riancho after he won a 1940 competition, and opened in 1953. He looked to the work of Juan de Herrera for its austere classical look, including El Escorial and Valladolid cathedral.
Photo: Zarateman — CC0 Magdalena de Ulloa, guardian of Don Juan of Austria and wife of Charles V's steward Luis Quijada, founded a Jesuit college here, and only its church remains. Work began in 1607 to a design attributed to the master mason Juan de Nates, and the church is described as the best example of Renaissance architecture in Cantabria, with a close resemblance to the Gesù in Rome. The plan to rebuild the burnt centre opened Calle de Juan de Herrera, the street it stands on, and was drawn to respect the church.
Photo: Zarateman — CC0 In the spring of 1937, during the Civil War, Santander built an air-raid shelter of concrete under what was then the Plaza de Mariana Pineda, now the Plaza del Príncipe. It had three linked galleries and was meant for 70 people, one of more than 100 shelters built around the city. It was abandoned after the war and the 1941 fire buried it; it came to light in 2006 during works on the Plaza Porticada, and opened to visitors in November 2014.
Photo: MiguelAlanCS — CC BY-SA 4.0 This neoclassical square in the Herrerian style was built after the 1941 fire destroyed most of the old centre, and it was inaugurated in 1950. Its architects, Javier González de Riancho, Rafael Huidobro and Valentín del Noval, took their inspiration from the late 18th-century customs house that stood nearby and vanished in the fire. At the main entrance stands the statue of Pedro Velarde, a hero of the War of Independence put up in 1880, and the square's 2006 remodelling turned up remains of the medieval wall and its Puerta del Mar.
Photo: Zarateman — CC0 Designed by Secundino Zuazo and Eugenio Fernández Quintanilla and inaugurated on 7 November 1926, this is one of the best examples of the Montañés regional style in Cantabria, with a facade flanked by two polygonal towers. When the 1941 fire swept through the centre, it was one of the few buildings inside the affected zone to come through without serious damage.
Photo: Josep Panadero — CC BY-SA 3.0 Eloy Martínez del Valle designed this classicist building, which went up in 1924 and 1925 on the plot once held by the Salón Pradera and the castle of San Felipe. The castle, also called the king's castle, was pulled down at the end of the 19th century, though part of its west wall and a corner tower survive. It stands beside the cathedral and the post office.
Photo: Tiia Monto — CC BY-SA 3.0 These gardens were laid out on land won from the sea that was used as a quay from 1805, and they were officially opened in 1905 for an exhibition of arts and industries. They are dedicated to the novelist José María de Pereda, whose monument by Lorenzo Coullaut Valera is ringed with engravings of scenes from his books. More than 200 trees give shelter to thousands of starlings from September to March.
Photo: Zarateman — CC0 Renzo Piano and Luis Vidal designed this art centre as two volumes on columns, partly hanging over the sea; the project began in 2012 and it opened on 23 June 2017. Walkways at the upper levels were planned to give back to the city the area the quay occupies at ground level. It belongs to the Fundación Botín, created in 1964 by Marcelino Botín Sanz de Sautuola and his wife María del Carmen Yllera Camino.
Photo: Emilio Gómez Fernández — CC BY-SA 4.0
Hear the full story as you walk, or create your own walk, in the Alleytale app.