Comillas

In mid December we were in northern Spain, in the province of Cantabria, for a two day invited seminar hosted by the Comillas Foundation. The Fundacion is housed in part of the old Pontificia University that was financed and built in Comillas by the Marquis of Comillas in the late 19th century. By now it is long out of use as a theologically based university under Papal administration. Part of it has been restored by the Comillas Foundation and serves as the site for the foundation's administration and teaching work in Spanish as a Foreign Language and related subject areas. It is where the seminar was held.

Some of the following photos show the restored part of the old university, as well as part of the unrestored but still well preserved (on the inside) interior. About two thirds of the large campus remains unrestored, although there are hopes that money will come from somewhere and make it possible to preserve what is really quite a magnificent complex.

Other photos show parts of Comillas township -- older and newer -- as well as the local beach, a restaurant that hosted one of the truly memorable meals of all time, a section of the historical centre of the town, Gaudi's incomparable "Capricho" (Caprice), and the ambitious summer house built by the Marquis of Comillas.