Hidden within the crags of Ronda, the Ermita Rupestre de la Oscuridad is an archaeological site featuring a rupestral church belonging to a cenobitic community. This church is integrated within a complex of housing and burial structures used by the community that lived there.
The rock-cut complex is divided into three distinct but related areas based on their function. One area is a cultural zone occupying three-quarters of the total surface, formed by a large central nave resembling a rectangle measuring ten by eight meters. This nave features various internal apses and openings to the outside, running on an east-west longitudinal axis. On the northern side of this nave, three irregular semi-circular cavities open, which may have served a liturgical purpose. The southern side features wide entrances connecting the church to the rest of the rupestral complex.
Another area consists of housing formed by annexes A and B, which may have sheltered a very small cenobitic or hermitic community. A third area is a necropolis extending both inside and outside the church, composed of burials in elongated niches. This site served as a burial place for the small community that attended the church and for people from the neighboring town of Ronda.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nicolo Ciampini
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