ANCIENT civilisations and their impact on modern life are always a source of fascination. Romans and their legacy are everywhere in Europe, Spain especially, and Greek philosophers have influenced centuries of government and political science all over the continent.
The Greeks were, in fact, the Moors' go-to thinkers when it came to medicine, an area in which Spain's Mediaeval Arab inhabitants were pioneers – they scorned the Latin texts hitherto used in healthcare techniques and turned, instead, to those from Ancient Greece and India.
Acropolis now: The Parthenon of Cantabria (photo: Rodelar/Wikimedia Commons)
Turns out they were onto something – it was the Moors who discovered the circulatory system, and they were the first to use anaesthetics for operations. None of that biting a bit of wood when they sawed your leg off, like in northern Europe; the Muslims who spent 700 years in Spain gave their patients narcotics to numb the pain and make them sleepy.
Thank goodness for the Moors, then.
Both Roman and Greek architecture is everywhere in modern Europe, and beyond – basically, anything that involves, loosely, a column-and-arch structure was these people's idea.
And if you ever thought Ancient Greece sounded a bit dull and the writings to come out of it boring and heavy, that's because you haven't read the likes of Aristophanes. This prolific, and downright hilarious, playwright will prove to you how naughty words and raunchy ideas were not invented by your own generation.
In fact, the Spanish film version of his cheeky, feminist Lysistrata is so funny that even viewers who can't understand the language find themselves howling with mirth.
Of course, to get a real feel for Ancient Greece, the place to be is Athens, the all-round perfect city in Plato's view and whose political and societal virtues were extolled in his Republic, and home to the majestic, splendid Acropolis with its stunning Parthenon structure overlooking the entire metropolis.
Or you could save yourself the air fare and go see the Parthenon in Cantabria instead.
Whilst there, you could take a stroll around the grounds of Nicole Kidman's haunted house – the one where she and her children were spooked by bumps in the night during World War II when her husband was away fighting.
Quick detour from Santander
Pop your travelling shoes on and head for Spain's north coast, to the single-province region whose capital is Santander, a stately-looking city with seafront homes that look like a gentrified version of Brighton, UK.
That's no accident – these mansions along the beach were designed with Queen Victoria in mind, attempting to copy the style of building she was used to seeing, to make her feel at home when she took winter breaks in the balmy climate of Cantabria.
Noble architecture, but not in Santander. La Casona de las Fraguas, next to the ‘Parthenon’, is a visitor magnet - read on to find out why (photo from the website for the restaurant, Lacasonadelasfraguas.com)
If you're travelling by car, about 35 to 40 minutes along the A-67 motorway from Santander brings you to the village of Las Fraguas and, from the centre, another 10- to 15-minute walk heading south brings you to a building that will make you stop in your tracks.
Probably, the first thing you'll say will be: “But that looks just like the Parthenon!”
And the first thing anyone else will say in response will be: “That's because it is the Parthenon.”
How the Parthenon ended up in Las Fraguas
Of course it is. It sits on top of a hill above the town, on dry-stone banks, with a deep, rectangular base reached by steps and a roof supported entirely by Corinthian columns – six along the front and back, and 14 along each side.
'Corinthian', 'Doric' and 'Ionic' refer to the style of capitel, or 'hat', of a column, and Corinthian is the most elaborate and decorative of these, a flurry of peeled-back leaves.
It's always been known, and still is, by locals, as 'The Parthenon', because it looks just like it.
Although in practice, it's a parish church, and it's only 130 years old.
Front view of the ‘Parthenon’ in Las Fraguas (photo: David Sánchez/iStock)
The San Jorge chapel, built in 1890 in the grounds of a ruined Mediaeval hermitage, is Neo-Classical in style – in other words, it's a 19th-century copycat of Ancient architecture.
Ubiquitous though Neo-Classical structures are in Europe, San Jorge church in Las Fraguas is one of very few buildings in this style in the whole of Cantabria.
It was purpose-built by the Duchy of Santo Mauro, owners of the Los Hornillos Palace backing onto it, to use as a place of worship and also as a family pantheon, or private burial chamber.
Eventually, the dynasty of Dukes and Duchesses donated San Jorge church to the village, and it has since been used as the local parish.
Mostly, though, it's become one of Las Fraguas' biggest tourist attractions – although not the only one.
The Others' house: Where Nicole Kidman's character lived
Los Hornillos Palace, practically next door to the 'Parthenon', was built in 19th-century English style, complete with red clay tiled roof and gables.
It was commissioned by the then Duke of Santo Mauro, Mariano Fernández de Henestrosa y Ortiz de Mioño, in 1897, and took seven years to build.
Home of the Dukes and Duchesses of Santo Mauro for decades, it is now in private hands – owned by the great-grandson of the aristocrat who had it built - and cannot be visited, but the outside is by far the most attractive part and a clear panoramic view of it can be enjoyed and caught on camera from the grounds of the church.
The ‘English-style’ Los Hornillos Palace. Do you recognise it from anywhere…? You will soon (photo: María Victoria Gómez Fernández/Wikimedia Commons)
Within the same estate as the Los Hornillos Palace, though, is the equally-stunning 18th-century Casona de las Fraguas – smaller, but visitable, because it's now a restaurant and banquet hall, hired out for weddings and similar celebrations and open to the public.
Until the Los Hornillos Palace was constructed, the Casona de las Fraguas was the seat of the Duchy and its members' main residence.
Sitting in oceans of emerald lawn, dotted with a highly-eclectic array of trees - from oak and teak through to sequoias and banana plantations – the bit visitors are usually most keen to take a selfie with is the central boulevard.
This is because one of the key outdoor scenes in Alejandro Amenábar's gothic, ghostly and gripping film, The Others, was shot right here.
The main avenue of the Casona was used for scenes such as when Grace's husband returns from the war and they are reunited, and we see him walking up the garden path.
Indoor scenes in The Others were shot in a studio, but the outside parts were filmed in the grounds of La Casona de las Fraguas and the front of the Los Hornillos Palace. Nicole Kidman (pictured here) said these scenes were some of her favourites in her entire career (photo: IMDb)
But the actual The Others house is the Los Hornillos Palace – any scenes you remember of the outer part of the supposedly British mansion where Grace and her light-allergic children live are, in fact, of this ducal residence.
Indoor scenes were shot in a studio, but everything else was filmed in the estate next to the 'Parthenon church'.
And Australian actress Nicole Kidman, who plays Grace, has often admitted that the on-location filming during The Others was among the bits of her long career that she has enjoyed the most.
If you saw and loved the original, multiple award-winning 2001 production, we bet you'll want to watch it again now and will home in on the house and its grounds to see whether you recognise them.
