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The Picos de Europa

Day 6 - Wednesday 31st August 2016

Trip to Comillas

61 km - 1 hr 22 min by car

 

 

Comillas is a small township and municipality in the northern reaches of Spain, in the autonomous community of Cantabria. The Marquisate of Comillas, a fiefdom of Spanish nobility, holds ceremonial office in the seat of power at a small castle which overlooks the town. The Comillas Pontifical University was housed here before it moved to Madrid, and the old university buildings are among the finest examples of architecture in the town. Besides this, there are many notable medieval and baroque buildings.

 

The beach

Comillas Pontifical University Building

 

Palace of Sobrellano

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Caprice - Antoni Gaudi

 

Built between 1883 and 1885, The Caprice, or as it is more commonly known "El Capricho",is one of Gaudi's early works and is one of only three Gaudi buildings outside of Barcelona. Comillas's most illustrious son Antonio Lopez Lopez (1817-1883), an entrepreneur who emigarted to Cuba at the age of 14 and who, on his return, founded a shipping company, a bank and a tobacco company, activities that made him one of Spain's wealthiest businessmen and earned him the title of the Marquis of Comillas.

 

 

Antoni Gaudi 1852-1926

 

 

 

Sunflower-design tiles adorn the exterior

Balustrading in the shape of music notes

Vibrant ceramic tiles