Quijas: Palace, Cave Art and the Saja River

Quijas combines historic architecture with a cave landscape where karst and rock art meet. You can therefore view the village through two different focal points: cultural history and the natural environment. The specific names, architectural forms and techniques give these topics a precise character.

Culture and History

The „Palacio y Torre de Bustamante“ ensemble stands on the Saja River. In 1982, it was declared a national historic-artistic monument. The Palacio de Bustamante dates from the 18th century and has a U-shaped floor plan around the Torre de Bustamante. The Capilla de San Bartolomé is attached to the east side of the Palacio de Bustamante; it has a Late Gothic ribbed vault with tiercerons.

The Torre de Bustamante is a defensive tower of late medieval origin and stands directly on the Saja River. The mill in the ensemble is also a noteworthy historical detail: according to the owner, it is more than 300 years old and preserves five millstones as well as parts of its machinery. The Torre de Villanueva de Quijas belongs to a group of defensive towers associated with the Bustamante family.

The ensemble therefore brings together different architectural functions and historical traces: representative architecture, a sacred space, defensive architecture and technical elements of a mill. The view can shift from the floor plan to the vault and then to the preserved components of the machinery, without the individual features merging into a single building type.

You can organize the cultural topics by construction period, architectural form, sacred detail, defensive architecture and milling technology; these different perspectives stand alongside one another and do not require a uniform interpretation.

Landscape and Caves

Cueva de La Estación is part of a karst system that developed in a powerful limestone escarpment between the Reocín valley and the Saja River. Nine drawings created using the „Macarroni“ technique have been identified in Cueva de La Estación. The rock art of Cueva de La Clotilde or La Lora also uses the „Macarroni“ technique; the depictions were made with the fingers directly in soft clay on ceilings and walls.

For your travel planning, the cave-related topics can be distinguished by their connection to the landscape and the execution of the rock art. The information thus combines the geological setting with a specifically described artistic technique.

Travel Planning

Quijas has a FEVE railway station called Santa Isabel. When planning a trip with a holiday apartment in Quijas, travel dates, room category and cancellation conditions may be given different weight. Which detail is decisive depends on your own circumstances and the selected travel period.

Other Places

Other places in the same selection are Barcenaciones, Cerrazo and Caranceja.

Visiting

In 2019, Cueva de La Estación was closed to the general public; access required a permit from the Government of Cantabria.

For the higher-level travel overview: Reocín.