Santillana del Mar

Santillana del Mar
Municipality
Church of the Colegiata in Santillana
Flag
Location of Santillana del Mar
Santillana del Mar Location in Spain
Coordinates:
Country	Spain
Autonomous community	Cantabria
Province	Cantabria
Comarca	Western coast
Judicial district	Torrelavega
Capital	Santillana del Mar
Government
• Alcalde	Isidro Rábago León (2007) (PSC-PSOE)
Area
• Total	28.46 km2 (10.99 sq mi)
Elevation	82 m (269 ft)
Highest elevation	275 m (902 ft)
Lowest elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population (2008)
• Total	4,049
• Density	140/km2 (370/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	39330
Official language(s)	Spanish

Santillana del Mar is a historic town situated in Cantabria, Spain. Its many historic buildings attract thousands of holidaymakers every year.

There is an old saying that Santillana del Mar is The Town of Three Lies, since it is neither a Saint (Santo), nor flat (llana), nor is it by the sea (Mar) as implied by its name. However, the name actually derives from Santa Juliana (or Santa Illana) whose remains are kept in the Colegiata, a Romanesque church and former Benedictine monastery.

Localities

The 3,983 inhabitants (INE, 2006) are distributed as follows:

• Arroyo, 43 pop.
• Camplengo, 201 pop.
• Herrán, 204 pop.
• Mijares, 124 pop.
• Queveda, 586 pop.
• Santillana del Mar (capital), 1.108 pop.
• Ubiarco, 246 pop.
• Vispieres, 337 hab.
• Viveda, 1.069 pop.
• Yuso, 65 pop.

Notable people

Santillana (born 1952), footballer

Gallery

• 
• SantilanaM2.jpg
• 

  View of the typical architecture of this town.

• 

  Colegiata de Santillana del Mar.

• 

  One of the streets in Santillana del Mar.

In literature

The protagonist of the novel Gil Blas is born in Santillana.

In his philosophical novel "La Nausée", Sartre described Santillana as the prettiest village in Spain ("le plus joli village d'Espagne").

External links

• Santillana travel guide at HitchHikers Handbook