Municipality Presentation
The Cantabrian municipality of Medio Cudeyo occupies a strategic territory in the southern arc of the Bay of Santander. Made up of ten neighborhood associations (Ánaz, Ceceñas, Heras, Hermosa, Santiago de Cudeyo, San Salvador, San Vitores, Sobremazas, Solares and Valdecilla), it has a rich and diverse cultural and natural heritage.
The cultural heritage includes resources from very early dates such as the archaeological sites of Castro de Castilnegro (1st century BC) and Pico Castillo (7th-11th centuries), until the first decades of the 20th century, the time of construction of the so-called “Houses of Indianos”, among which are the one built by the Marquis of Valdecilla in his hometown within a large estate that is currently municipal property and a heritage reference of the first order.
Among the natural resources of the municipality, the Peña Cabarga Massif stands out, a limestone rock formation where karstic phenomena and the vegetation of holm oaks and eucalyptus are very present. The visitor can enter it through its numerous roads and paths, reaching the Pico Llen viewpoint, at 569 meters, with its monument to the Indiano and privileged views of Santander and its bay, as well as a good part of the coast of the Cantabrian. Other natural resources of the Medio Cudeyo City Council are the head of the Cubón stream, where remains of the box of the old mining railway are preserved; the Solía and San Salvador marshes, which are prime areas for bird watching; Pico Castillo, on whose summit remains of a medieval site are preserved, an Asset of Cultural Interest since 2002; the Heras reservoir, originally used as a mineral wash; the banks of the Pámanes and Miera rivers, cataloged as Places of Community Interest (SCI).
The municipality’s tourist reference is undoubtedly the Mina Pepita Mythological Park, a former open-pit mining operation located in the heart of the urban area of Solares.
Several routes run through the territory of Medio Cudeyo, highlighting among them the thermal route that connects the spas of Solares and Liérganes and the Camino de Santiago. The route of the thermal route, about 7 km. long, it is designed to integrate the mineral-medicinal wealth of the thermal waters with the beauty of the environment, highlighting the important spa tradition of Solares and the Fuencaliente spring, which dates back to the 18th century. For its part, the Camino de Santiago has a stretch of about ten kilometers as it passes through Medio Cudeyo that links from the Forest in Entrambasaguas with Villaescusa, allowing the walker to discover and enjoy a rich and diverse heritage, both natural and cultural, located in rural landscapes: the Miera river, the Heras reservoir, La Covachona, Pico Castillo, the Solía estuary, the Santiago harvest, the church of Santa María de Cudeyo and the Valdecilla cruise, the schools and houses of the teachers of Valdecilla, the Palaces of Rubalcaba and Marquises of Valbuena in Solares, the Plaza de la Marquesa de Nájera, the hermitage of San Esteban, the San Clemente and Santa Ana Foundation, the Palace of Los Cuetos and the Casona de los Portilla, all in Sobremazas, the church and the old schools of Santiago.
