Santander Cathedral occupies the highest point of the old city, on a hill above the port where the city was founded. The building has a complicated layered history: the lower Romanesque crypt dates from the 12th century, while the upper Gothic nave was completed in the 14th century and then largely reconstructed after the catastrophic fire of February 1941 burned most of central Santander to the ground. The result is a building that reads as Gothic but feels newer than it looks — which is partly the point, since the reconstruction was as faithful as the 1940s resources allowed.
What survives from before the fire includes the remarkable lower church, whose stone vaults shelter the relics of the two Roman soldier-saints who gave the city its religious heart. Enter through the cloister, which was restored in neo-Gothic style and is one of the more peaceful spots in the city centre. The cathedral treasury holds some pre-fire ecclesiastical pieces, and from the bell tower — when it is open — the view across the bay and the Magdalena Peninsula is excellent.