| In the
mid-16th century Santander became a Renaissance town. The
square of Cantón was built in the New Town, and three
important buildings stood there: the Town Hall,
Riva-Herrera House and the Jesuit College, of which only
the church of
La Compañia de Jesús remains. The Riva-Herrera family was particularly eminent
in Renaissance Santander. The family came originally from
Gajano, where their fortified tower still remains. They
controlled the harbour: and Don Fernando de Riva-Herrera
was captain of the fleets that sailed from Santander to
Flanders laden with wool. He held the position of
Provisioner General of the Armadas of the Ocean. The
family had a fortified
house in Pronillo which became
a palace in the mid-16th century. This family was also
responsible for the chapel named after
them in the Gospel nave of the cathedral.
Also of this period was the Convent of
St Francis, now gone, and the surviving Convent of Santa Cruz (present Tabacalera building). The Order of
Barefoot Clarists was expelled from the convent in 1835;
the Tabacalera factory has been here since 1838.
The church of Consolación
is Baroque, while the Hospital of St Raphael
(now home to the Regional Parliament) founded in the late
18th century belongs to the Enlightenment period. This
building bears the mark of the incipiently modish
hygienist theories of its day, with its advanced
ventilation and a location deliberately distant from the
city centre.
Before addressing the 19th century one
should mention the Ensanche ("Extension") of Santander. The re-opening of the Reinosa Road and the
heavier harbour-traffic that this implied made it
necessary to enlarge the harbour and adapt it to new
requirements. This changed the city. The improvement and
extension of the docks, along with a number of
in-fillings, made room for a new and more
rationally-planned conurbation.
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