Catedral del Cristo

After we had settled into the hostal, we decided to take a walk to see the city at night. This is Santander’s gothic cathedral which dates to the 13^th century, so the building is often referred to as the city’s first monument.

Although we never actually ventured inside, interestingly enough, the cathedral houses the remains of the heads of martyred Roman soldiers Emeterio and Celedonio in its crypt. They are stored in two 16^th-century silver reliquaries that were formed in the image of their faces. After facing the guillotine in AD 300 in La Rioja, their heads were transported to Santander for safekeeping during the Moorish invasion.