Comillas

Comillas is a small township and municipality in the northern reaches of Spain, in the autonomous community of Cantabria. The Marquisate of Comillas, a fiefdom of Spanish nobility, holds ceremonial office in the seat of power at a small castle which overlooks the town. The Comillas Pontifical University was housed here before it moved to Madrid, and the old university buildings are among the finest examples of architecture in the town. Besides this, there are many notable medieval and baroque buildings.

History

Comillas was first inhabited in prehistoric times when the caverns that are plentiful in the area were used as shelters. The Neolithic inhabitants left behind them rock paintings that depicted the animals they hunted. Magdalenian and Bronze Age artefacts have been found in nearby Ruiseñada, and there was an ancient mine at La Molina in which utensils and Roman coins have been found as well as an altar dedicated to the god Jupiter. Arrowheads have also been found here. On the border between Comillas and Ruiloba, heaps of shells have been found showing that the ancient people, besides hunting, specialised in collecting food from the sea.