The height on which stands the Cathedral Church of Santander constitutes the last remains of the ancient hill of Somorrostro, chosen by the Romans for the original supply of the current city. Its exceptional strategic conditions, being then a promontory almost completely surrounded by the sea, from which the entire bay was dominated, determined the continuity of human presence in this enclave throughout the medieval centuries. The granting of jurisdiction to Santander in 1187, under the tutelage of the abbot of its church, motivated an important economic development that allowed the construction of the current cathedral building, as well as that of the castle of the town on its western flank, the consolidation of what which was later called Puebla Vieja and the construction of new walls to defend the entire population and its active port.
