Each town in Medio Cudeyo has an ancient and varied heritage around religious architecture. Constructions that collect the history of the residents of the municipality and represent a legacy that dates back to the 12th century, when the existence of a temple dedicated to Santa María is already documented. Many of these constructions will be linked to the development of the Camino de Santiago, an ancient route that passes through the municipality and takes pilgrims along the coastal path to Santiago de Compostela. Buildings around which and for a long time life was made and laws were governed, such as the meetings of the Cudeyo Board, held at first in the same portico of the Church of Santa María de Cudeyo.
San Martín church
San Martín church
From its position, this temple dominates the entire town of Hermosa. The church, with a nave with chapels between buttresses, is a work from the 17th century. One of the chapels is dedicated to the Virgin of Carmen and the temple has a dome and lantern as a covering, a sacristy attached to the head, a 19th century portico and a classicist belfry.
The temple has a single nave covered by cross vaults, a classicist choir and belfry, a sacristy and porch attached to the side of the epistle and a chapel in the Gospel nave. Next to the belfry there is a sundial. The portico, completed in 1821, presents a classicist doorway with a semicircular arch where the date 1599 appears. The nave body dates from the first half of the 17th century, highlighting another construction stage in the mid-19th century under the patronage of the family. Torriente, who built a funerary chapel dedicated to Carmen in addition to financing the work of the sacristy, the purchase of ornaments and the gilding and variegating of the three altarpieces that the church had. An inscription on a window of the sacristy remains as evidence of the donations of such distinguished neighbors. Also notable inside the temple is a carving of Saint Lucia. The master stonemason to whom the original designs for the work of the church are owed is Francisco de Hermosa, a member of a significant dynasty of stonemasons. The main altarpiece, which has disappeared, was made by the assembler Francisco de la Torre at the end of the 17th century.
San Juan Bautista church
San Juan Bautista church
Also known as San Juan el Pajarón because of a pelican and a gold candelabra that he owned and which, unfortunately, were sold during the War of Independence.
Built during the 17th and 18th centuries, the church has three cross-vaulted naves, highlighting the one at its head. On the porch you can read an inscription about the donations of the influential Torreánaz family. Inside, the carving of a Christ of the Good Death and a Spanish-Flemish oil on panel of The Annunciation stand out, probably a work from the first half of the 16th century.
The temple has three naves with a tower at the foot, a sacristy attached to one side of the chancel and a porch on the epistle side. Likewise, the Torreánaz family built their funerary chapel under the adbocation of San Marcelino in the Gospel nave. The nave and sacristy were built between the 17th and 18th centuries and present elements of Baroque tradition such as the cruciform pillars that join the central nave with the side naves or the star-crossed vaults of the central nave. In the 19th century, the baptistery, the tower and the vaulted roofs of the side naves were completed. On the portico an inscription remembers the donations of the Torreánaz to the parish: TO THE EXCMO. MR. Dn LUIS MARIA DE LA TORRE Y DE LA HOZ, COUNT OF TORREANAZ, MADE AN AGREEMENT ON JULY 25, 1881 BY THE NEIGHBORS OF THIS TOWN, TO PERPETUATE THE TESTIMONY OF THEIR GRATITUDE TO HIM.
Santa María de Cudeyo church
Santa María de Cudeyo church
From a privileged position that allows you to observe the entire town of Solares is this temple with three naves from the 17th century. Its southern façade is older and dates back to the 15th century and was, for a time, the meeting place of the Junta de Cudeyo. Inside it houses, among others, the stone tomb of a knight, an altarpiece from the Rubalcaba Palace and a Spanish-Flemish triptych from the early 15th century.
The first references to the existence of a monastery dedicated to Saint Mary date back to the 12th century, but the current temple is later. With a pseudo-hall plan (it was originally a basilica but underwent a renovation in the 17th century) with three naves, it has a polygonal apse, high choir, sacristy, tower at the foot and two entrance porches (in the south it met during the Modern Age the Cudeyo Board).
The oldest area of the church, with late Gothic architecture, is the Epistle nave. The vaulted and warped roofs and the rammed pillars with decorations of plant, human or Eucharistic motifs refer us once again to late Gothic models. The south doorway, open in this nave, is part of the Hispano-Flamenco Gothic style of Burgos influence and is a work from the first half of the 16th century. It consists of a carpanel arch with a frieze of plant decoration framed by a large pointed arch supported by small columns on whose lintel the motto Ave María, a Franciscan cord and an inscription in Gothic letter surrounded by thirty-seven seals that can be transcribed as follows. : «The pardons of this church add up to one thousand and five hundred days in each year of the XVIII century, with more forgiveness every day of the CXX». The upper vertex of the façade, inside which there is an anagram of Jesus, was affected by the superimposition of a porch in the 18th century. Another doorway opens in the Gospel nave, used as an entrance to the temple today. Work from the second half of the 16th century, it has a semicircular arch and elements that place it close to Plateresque. In addition to the importance of its architecture, the church stands out for some objects that it treasures inside. Thus, the stone tomb of a knight in the Epistle nave (2nd half of the 15th century), the altarpiece in the Gospel nave (last third of the 17th century), a Spanish-Flemish triptych (15th-16th century transition) and two oil paintings representing Saint Teresa and the Holy Family with Saint John (17th century).
Crucero de Valdecilla
Crucero de Valdecilla
Located very close to the Church of Santa María de Cudeyo, this large cruise is located within one of the stages of the Camino de Santiago as it passes through Cantabria. It is a monumental work from the 17th century in ashlar stone, with a square floor plan and corner buttresses, as well as semicircular arches, and inside covered with ribbing and a stone cross.
This cruise is located within one of the stages of the Camino de Santiago as it passes through Cantabria. With a square floor plan covered with a hipped roof, it has ashlar walls with corners marked by buttresses and a star-shaped ribbed vault with triplets and cambers. Each of the walls opens to the outside through a semicircular arch, one of them serving as an entrance to the interior, where a stone cross stands on steps and pedestal of the same material with representations of the Pietà and the Crucified.
San Justo church
San Justo church
Characterized by post-war religious architecture, which recreated traditional forms at low cost using new materials. A polychrome wooden carving of Jesus Christ the Savior stands out, possibly coming from the original temple from the late 17th century that was destroyed.
The church of San Justo in San Salvador has three naves, separated from each other by semicircular arches, with an attached sacristy. At the foot of the temple is the entrance door, rising above it the belfry that houses the body of bells. The church presents an architecture characterized by simplicity. Built during the post-war period, its elevation shows part of an older building in the head area, where we find an arch on the Epistle side. Among the imagery, a polychrome wooden carving representing Jesus Christ as Savior (16th century) stands out. There was a church before this one, designed in 1695. In 1784, a belfry was built in it with materials from the hermitage of San Andrés. This hermitage occupied the site on which the parish stands today.
Santa Catalina church
Santa Catalina church
Built in the 17th century, it could have originally been a medieval Dominican monastic establishment dedicated to Saint Victor, as mentioned in different historical references. In 1894 it underwent a thorough restoration funded by the government at the request of the Count of Torreanaz.
The Church of Santa Catalina is a temple with a single nave with a belfry at the foot and a chancel covered with a groin vault. The set is completed by a portico with four columns in which the access door to the church is located. The linteled opening appears flanked by two pilasters on which a coffered frieze runs. During the second half of the 19th century the church underwent extensive reforms that had the support of the Count of Torreánaz. This is reflected in the plaque placed on the portico with the words: 'A LA EXMA. MRS. D. TRINIDAD GARCIA SANCHO CONDESA VDA DE TORREANAZ. DISIGNABLE BENEFACTOR OF THIS CHURCH: THE PEOPLE OF SAN VITORES IN TESTIMONY OF GRATITUDE. There are historical references to a Dominican monastery in Cudeyo dedicated to Saint Victor. It may be the medieval antecedent of the parish of Santa Catalina.
Santiago de Cudeyo church
Santiago de Cudeyo church
Built between the 16th and 18th centuries, this church is located on the Camino de Santiago and both its location and that of Santiago de Cudeyo present privileged views of the Bay of Santander. The church consists of a nave with a belfry at the foot and buttresses in the apse, reflecting a late Gothic construction. The interior stands out for the ribbed vaulting of the main chapel, where a magnificent baroque altarpiece is located. After this, some wall paintings from the 17th century were discovered.
La espadaña, levantada durante la segunda mitad del siglo XVIII, remata con pináculos y bolas, además de presentar pilastras cajeadas y frontones, todo ello dentro de una clara estética clasicista. La iglesia cuenta con dos puertas de ingreso. La situada en la zona de los pies, un sencillo vano de medio punto; y otra en la fachada norte abierta en el siglo XVIII, compuesta por un vano adintelado con marco moldurado. Esta última no da en la actualidad al exterior pues en el lado norte del templo se adosó un espacio empleado para reuniones y actos de los parroquianos.En el interior del templo destacan una pila de agua bendita dentro de la tipología de las del siglo XVII y el magnífico retablo mayor, obra barroca del Taller de Cudeyo en la primera mitad del siglo XVIII. En él destacan tanto el empleo de columnas salomónicas como la imagen central de Santiago Matamoros, enmarcada por vano trilobulado. Se descubrieron unas pinturas murales de la segunda mitad del siglo XVII en la cabecera ocultas por dicho retablo. En ellas se representa «La Exaltación y Adoración de la Eucaristía» y debieron emplearse para cubrir el espacio interior de la cabecera hasta que ésta contase con un retablo.
San Miguel church
San Miguel church
At the foot of Mount Peña Cabarga is the church of San Miguel in the town of Heras, originally from an ancient monastery. Its Spanish-Flemish cover from the 16th century stands out. The church has three naves with cross vaults, most of them renovated in the mid-17th century, the time of construction of the neighboring Alvarado tower and the stone cross with religious reliefs on the outside.
The temple consists of three naves, with a square tower of three sections at the foot and a sacristy attached to the head, in which the main chapel is located, open to the nave by means of a triumphal arch above. The existence of a monastery dedicated to Saint Michael has been documented since the beginning of the 15th century and the church built in the early years of the 16th century and remodeled in the mid-17th century originated from it. The oldest area of the temple is located on the south doorway, which is part of the canons of Spanish-Flamenco Gothic influenced by Burgos. Likewise, the roofs refer to different construction phases: that of the central nave, from the second half of the 17th century, while those of the side naves were closed during the 17th and 18th centuries. In the south part, where the priest's home was previously located, today are his office and other attached rooms. Nothing remains of the original imagery of the church after its disappearance at the beginning of the Civil War.
San Pedruco hermitage
San Pedruco hermitage
The venue for a popular pilgrimage every year, the hermitage of San Pedruco is a small building from the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Located in a large field, the building consists of a single nave and a square apse that is covered with a simple ribbed vault. The exterior has a belfry next to the entrance door, resolved through a semicircular arch with ashlars.
The small hermitage of popular architecture has whitewashed walls and presents ashlars in corners and openings. Inside, the transition between the nave and the main chapel is made through a triumphal arch, covering the head with a ribbed vault that still preserves remains of the painting with which it was decorated. The date 1670 engraved on one of the windows refers us to the existence of the hermitage at that time, although it underwent a renovation between 1735 and 1738, the latter date being engraved on the triumphal arch of the main chapel. In the head there was an altarpiece dated in the second half of the 18th century, and now disappeared, with the images of San Pedruco, San Roque and San Sebastián.
San Vicente church
San Vicente church
This small temple, built in the 17th century, was deeply renovated and expanded in the 19th century thanks to the Torriente Indian family, also benefactors of the nearby College of the Apostolate. The portico, the belfry and the sacristy are from this reform. It preserves the original apse with buttresses that support a half-barrel vault.
The church of San Vicente consists of a single nave, belfry and wooden choir at the foot, access porch to the south and sacristy attached to the head, which is covered with a vault. The three sections of the body of the nave had a wooden roof but are currently covered with a half-barrel vault. The original temple, from the 17th century, underwent a renovation and expansion during the 19th century with the construction of a sacristy, belfry and portico, in addition to the renovation of the nave and chancel, which was reinforced with new large buttresses. All these works were paid for by the Torriente family, the same one that established the charitable foundation that gave rise to the nearby College. Some vestiges of the 17th century temple remain in the area of the head, where the buttresses that support the thrust of the vault are preserved. The church had an altarpiece from the second half of the 17th century in the main chapel with images of San Vicente and San Roque. Currently disappeared, the temple's imagery is modern.
San Esteban hermitage
Ermita de San Esteban
In the center of the town of Sobremazas, there is a small 17th century temple built on top of another small hermitage that could well be medieval. The town council meetings were held on its porch for a long time. The building has a single rectangular nave with a square head covered by a ribbed vault. Attached to this is the sacristy. The temple also has a portico and belfry with a double embrasure with decoration of balls and pinnacles.
It is a simple temple with a single nave that has a main chapel with a cross vault at the head, a belfry with a double embrasure at the foot and a portico and sacristy attached to the south side. The current head stands where the nave of a small hermitage was previously located. The main chapel opens to the nave by means of a central semicircular arch, the cross rests on pilasters, this space being reinforced on the outside by buttresses arranged in the corner. Regarding the use of ornamental elements, only the balls and pinnacles of the belfry stand out, in which the body of bells is located. On one of the lower sides of the belfry there is a sundial. In the 16th century there was a small hermitage in the place where the church stands today that may well have had medieval antecedents. The work of the current presbytery is due to the stonemason Juan de la Portilla in 1677. The meetings of the Sobremazas council were held in the porch for a long time.
