Comillas: Architecture and Nature

Comillas combines protected architectural heritage with nature and coastal activities. When planning your trip, you can focus on different things: architecture, landscapes, walks or water sports.

Palaces and Architectural History

Comillas’s historic-artistic ensemble has been protected since March 29, 1985. The Palacio de Sobrellano and its chapel-pantheon form a monumental ensemble designed by Joan Martorell. It combines the Neo-Gothic style with Modernist aesthetics.

The Palacio de Sobrellano can be visited on a guided tour. It takes you through important rooms, including the billiard room, dining room, throne room, library and the Museum of the 2nd Marquess. The tour lasts approximately 45 minutes, giving you a clear time frame for this activity. Check the latest visitor information before making your plans.

The Sobrellano chapel-pantheon was designed as a small cathedral with an ambulatory and also serves as a family mausoleum. Its architectural design and funerary function are thus combined in a single building.

El Capricho de Gaudí, also known as Villa Quijano, was Gaudí’s first work outside Barcelona and was built between 1883 and 1885. Since its historic-artistic designation in 1969, the building has been protected as a cultural asset of special interest, a Bien de Interés Cultural. It opened to the public as a museum in 2010; check the current visiting conditions before planning around it.

Another distinctive landscape feature of Comillas is the sculpture “El Ángel exterminador” by Joseph Llimona. The sculpture crowns the ruins of an old Gothic monastery and is one of the distinctive landmarks in the Comillas landscape.

Nature and Coastal Activities

Around half of the municipality of Comillas lies within Oyambre Natural Park, which it shares with San Vicente de la Barquera and Valdáliga. The Ría de la Rabia is an ecologically valuable habitat for waterbirds: they spend the winter there or stop over during their migrations. Both overwintering and resting during migration contribute to the area’s importance for birds.

There are walking areas on Monte Corona. Stands of native beech, birch, chestnut and oak trees have been preserved there, adding to the recreational appeal of this landscape. This makes it a different kind of destination for a walk from the bird habitats of the Ría de la Rabia.

Water sports such as scuba diving, sailing, traineras racing and windsurfing are available along the Comillas coast. Conditions and providers may vary, so plan your visit around the activity you want to do.

Festival and Getting There

The San Pedro festival, featuring the “San Pedruco” dances, is celebrated in Comillas on June 29. If the festival is important to your travel plans, check the dates and program in advance.

If you are driving from Santander to El Capricho de Gaudí, you can take the A-8 and use exit 249 toward Comillas. Check current road conditions before setting off.

Discover more destinations: Ruiseñada, Camaleño, Valdeprado, Cabezón De La Sal, La Gándara, Valderredible, Abionzo, Campoo De Yuso.

Return to the regional travel overview: Cantabria.