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The
village of Matienzo lies along the bottom of a limestone
valley in the Cantabrian mountains, northern Spain. A
road snakes from north to south, about 5 kms long, each
end passing over a ridge to form a bowl like depression.
Within the valley there is another closed valley running
east/west In geological terms this is a polje, an enclosed
valley where the rain water off the mountains falls in
rivers and underground passages and exits the valley only
through caves. It is the exploration and mapping of these
water courses both above and below ground that brings
cavers from all around the world to this classic site.
Spanish cavers did some exploration in the mid 1960´s
and the British cavers first went to the valley in the
early 1970´s and have been exploring each year since
then under a permit granted by the Cantabrian government.
The expedition has grown in size and now has superb records
in log books, maps, photos and reports of more than 2000
cave sites, some very small but others in systems over
43 kilometres in length. There are caves with active rivers;
caves with just fossil passage; caves with deep vertical
pitches; many decorations and stalagmites and stalactites;
grottoes and chambers; siphons and lakes. The occasional
prehistoric engraving and painting has been found. There
may be others!
There
are two main times for exploration, Easter and for the
months of July and August. In the past there have been
over 100 people involved with the expedition during the
summer. A number of British people have bought houses
in the village and two British people live there permanently.
There is a constant stream of visitors for the exploration
of the caves and to enjoy the scenery and the rural way
of life.
The
farmers husband cows for milk and the lush green fields
(due the relatively heavy rain fall) can yield up to five
cuttings of hay a year. Sheep and goats roam the mountain
sides and high up horses graze. There is a bakers and
two bars / restaurants. At one restaurant, Casa German,
there is a camping site with toilet and shower facilities.
Also in this building is the expedition’s tackle store
for ropes, ladders etc and safety/rescue equipment. There
are self-catering apartments and rooms and others, together
with pensions, are close by in neighbouring villages.
There are excellent beaches about 35 minutes drive away.
The nearest town of Ramales has supermarkets, other general
shops, ironmongers, banks, post office, car mechanics,
fuel station, bicycle hire and library. Doctors and dentists
and pharmacies are local. There is a tourist office which
gives information on the Alto Asón area. One service
is to take people into local wild caves as a speleological
adventure. Rivers and gorges and the mountain tops provide
excellent walking of all grades.
There
are public access caves with prehistoric paintings close
to Ramales and others about an hours drive from Matienzo
at Puente Viesgo in Cantabria. A little further away is
the World Heritage site of Altamira.
The
regional capital city of Santander is 40 kilometres distance
with the usual facilities of a large city. It has many
public and private art galleries, probably more than twelve
that show major Spanish and international modern art.
Of course in the other direction approximately 80 kilometres
east is Bilbao with The Guggenhiem and the city Bellas
Artes Museo.
In
the area over the year a succession of fiestas provide
entertainment with stalls selling all types of goods,
food and drink and late at night music and dancing. There
are programmes for art festivals and music of all types.
Do
you need to know any other reasons for living, exploring
caves, making art and having a studio and gallery in Matienzo?
And of course visiting the area for a vacation.
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