C A N T A B R I A   U N I V E R S I T Y
 
 
   
 
  Churches, Hermitages and Sanctuaries   Religious Architecture
Hermitages and Sanctuaries
Altarpieces
Sepulchral sculpture
Renaissance and Baroque painting
 
Hermitages and Sanctuaries.  
    Sanctuary of Nuestra Señora de la Bien Aparecida   During the early modern age, a great development of the hermitage and sanctuary patterns took place in Cantabria, built in order to keep the image of some Saint or Virgin object of a strong popular devotion. The hermitages are usually small buildings of good dressed stone, with simple plans and elevations. A balustered railing appears on the main façade, and others have a porch and a bell gable. Some examples of hermitages are the hermitage of Santa Justa in Ubiarco and the hermitage of Riclones in Celis. The sanctuary, of a greater architectural importance, might have been at first a hermitage, and later enlarged, when it became property of the religious orders, and decorated with important images, altarpieces, groin vaults, etc.. Some of the best samples are Baroque, such as the Sanctuary of the Bien Aparecida or Montesclaros.  
   
 
Sanctuary of Nuestra Señora de Montes Claros
 
   
   
   
   
                               
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