When we talk about coming to the Palacio de Velarde, we are not talking about making a traditional visit to a Renaissance palace converted into a museum. Because here, immersive technology transforms every room in the building into a real journey through time, so you can feel, hear and, above all, live the story
A museum with technology in Spain that makes a difference
As a museum with technology in Spain, the Palacio de Velarde has been conceived to excite the visitor, not just inform. How? Through a complex automated programming system that coordinates holograms, sound effects, scenographic lighting, music, virtual reality, artificial intelligence and artistic reproductions. All this, precisely integrated to recreate key moments of the five centuries of history that this place houses.
Holograms as guides to the past
One of the most striking resources are the museum’s holograms, not used as simple decorative elements but to give life to the former inhabitants of the palace – inquisitors, nobles, duchesses, spies or writers. Thanks to this technology, different characters from the past coexist in the present, explaining to the visitor what life was like in each era, what battles marked their history and what were the secrets that lived within the walls of the building.
Artificial intelligence to give voice to the story
AI also plays a leading role in our museum. In the lithograph room, for example, nineteenth-century portraits such as those of El Cid, Hernán Cortés or Juan Sebastián Elcano “wake up” thanks to artificial intelligence. Thus, from their own paintings, they speak directly to the visitor and narrate their exploits in the first person, making the past stop being something distant to become a close and exciting story.
Virtual reality and scenographic setting: immersive tourism in Cantabria
The use of virtual reality and historical scenography completes this immersion. The ceilings, walls and original furniture are combined with scenographic lighting, surround sound and original music to recreate the scenes of the past. All this is coordinated by a central automation system that means that each room of the palace is transformed as the visitor passes, as if it were a living theatre.
This combination makes the Palacio de Velarde one of the benchmarks for immersive tourism in Cantabria, a different proposal that combines culture, technology and emotion.
An experience in Santillana del Mar that you will not forget
The result of all this innovation is one of the most unique experiences in Santillana del Mar. Far from being a conventional museum, the Palacio de Velarde invites you to become another inhabitant of the palace.
If you are looking for a different experience than a heritage and avant-garde, you will love the Palacio de Velarde.
Because history can be told… but it can also be lived.
