While we were in Santillana del Mar in the Cantabria region of northern Spain we visited the nearby Altamira Museum. It is a 5 minute drive or a 20 minute walk away. It is uphill with little shade, wear a hat or take an umbrella.
Around 40,000 years ago Cantabria began to be inhabited by early an early human species. It was the beginning of the Upper Palaeolithic period. This was a cultural period where the first manifestations of complex, abstract thought was in evidence. Art was part of this.
Along the Cantabrian coast caves inhabited during the Upper Palaeolithic period have been discovered. One of these is the Altamira Cave. The cave was occupied by man for two epochs, the Upper Solutrean, 18,500 years ago and the Lower Magdalenian, 14,000 years ago. I can imagine the excitement when it was discovered that the rock ceiling of the cave was covered in paintings. After the last occupation, around 13,000 years ago a landslide sealed off the cave’s entrance. The cave was no longer used and it was preserved intact for thousands of years.
The cave was discovered in 1868 and the Magdalenian paintings known as the Techo de los Policromos, Polychrome Ceiling, was first seen in 1879. When tourism hit the area in the 1960s the cave became one of the most visited sites in the country, beaten only by the Prado Museum in Madrid.
By 1977 Altamira was closed to the public, to halt the deterioration caused by visitors, and find ways to protect the paintings. When it reopened in 1982 visitor numbers were strictly restricted.
Eva, one of the delightful ladies we met at Hotel Casa Marques, where we stayed in Santillana del Mar, told us that when she was still at school, she was one of the five people permitted to enter the cave each week. She was very young, but remembers creeping in and almost lying on her back to be able to look up at the ceiling to view the paintings. She still remembers how excited she was and now realises how lucky she was to experience this.
To make up for the limited number of people permitted to enter the cave it was decided to make a faithful replica of the cave nearby. The Neocueva, New Cave, along with the Altamira Museum, was opened in 2001. It was built to enable visitors to see the paintings in the context they were created.
Before going inside, we are shown a film which shows the milestones in the history of the cave, the landslide and its subsequent rediscovery.
Come for a walk through the replica of the cave. It is very well set up, with imagined scenes of life within the cave and the ceiling paintings are exact copies of the originals. The artists used the same natural pigments used by the primitive artists and care was taken to recreate the textures, contours and colour variations.
It is amazing that we can see back so far in history. There is a real feeling of how people lived and seeing the paintings is excellent. There is also a museum outlining the history with artifacts collected in the area. I recommend a visit. There is a small cafe, excellent gift shop and an outdoor picnic area.
It is possible to book online. We were able to buy tickets at the ticket office on the day.
This is where we stayed in Santillana del Mar…The perfect place to stay in Santillana del Mar
Santillana del Mar…Sensational Santillana del Mar