Cave of Altamira, Santillana del Mar, Cantabria.
Doubtless, it is the cave with the most important paleolithic rock art in Spain and one of the most well-known in the world. Its walls have beatiful pictures on bisons, deers, horses... It has been called the "Sistine Chapel of rock art”. ![]() It is ca. 310 ms long, with an entry that leads us to a "hall". This hall communicates through its left and bottom side with a room decorated with the big panel of polychromes. This gallery goes on with many and different graphic representations. It ends in a wide room called “La Hoya” -the hole-. La hoya gives place to a new narrow gallery called "Cola de Caballo" -horsetail-. Because of researchs and public old visits, the cave has been spoilt: not only in its pictures, but also in its structure. Today many "works for restoration" try to assure its preservation. |
![]() Bison from Polychrome Chamber. |
![]() Ceiling from Polychrome Chamber. |