IT looks like something lifted straight from the hills of Athens, but this Greek-style temple stands hidden in the green valleys of northern Spain.
The Church of San Jorge has become known as ‘the Spanish Parthenon’ for its striking resemblance to the ancient temple of Athena.
The little-known find is buried away in the tiny village of Las Fraguas in Cantabria’s Arenas de Iguña municipality.
Built in 1890 at the request of the Dukes of Santo Mauro, the neoclassical structure was conceived as a private chapel and family mausoleum.
Its 40 Corinthian columns – just ten fewer than the original in Athens – encircle the white-stone building, complete with architraves, cornices and triangular pediments that evoke the ideals of symmetry and proportion so prized in the ancient world.
The temple rises on the site of a medieval hermitage, but its design stood out completely with the rustic traditions of the Besaya valley.
Rather than echoing local Romanesque or Baroque chapels, its inspiration came directly from the classical revival sweeping Europe’s elite at the end of the 19th century.
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The Dukes also commissioned the nearby Palacio de Los Hornillos, a grand country residence designed by British architect Ralph Selden Wornum in a distinctly Old English style.
Together, the two buildings formed a miniature world of cosmopolitan taste and aristocratic ambition in the remote Cantabrian countryside.
Over time, San Jorge ceased to be a private chapel and became part of the village’s heritage.
When the old parish of Las Fraguas disappeared, the Duke donated the building to the local community, turning it into the parish church it remains today.
Its history, however, carries darker chapters.
During the Spanish Civil War, the building was used as a prison by Republican forces, leaving a shadow over its serene appearance.
The nearby Palacio de Los Hornillos, once visited by King Alfonso XIII, later achieved international fame as the filming location for Alejandro Amenábar’s 2001 film The Others, starring Nicole Kidman.
Although the palace interior is not open to visitors, its surrounding gardens occasionally host cultural events and private celebrations.
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Set amid mountains, meadows and thick forests, Las Fraguas remains a place few tourists reach – yet those who do are rewarded with one of Spain’s most surprising architectural treasures.
And for those who cannot make it north, Spain even has another homage to Athens: the so-called Parthenon of El Palmeral in Don Benito, Badajoz, built in 2010 entirely from recycled materials.
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