Hermitage of the Virgen de la Cuevita

The walls and ceiling are bare rock, scooped out of the hillside, and the altar is carved from the same stone. Step inside and the village noise falls away. The chapel is quiet and very plain, and that plainness is the whole point: a room inside the mountain, lit mostly from the door.

Artenara has lived in its rock for centuries, with cave houses cut into the slopes, and the hermitage is that tradition turned into a place of worship. Pair it with the village's viewpoints and its cave houses for a morning in the highlands.

• The statue of the Virgen de la Cuevita is no longer in the cave: damp forced its move to the church of San Matías in the village.
• It is a working chapel. Keep your voice down, and hold back if a service is under way.
• The nearest public toilets are about 380 m away in a straight line.
• A free drinking-water point is about 440 m away, with another at the municipal picnic area.
• A board for the Artenara – Cruz de Tejeda trail and guidepost S-90 (El Toril) stand about 100 m from the chapel.

The chapel sits within Artenara itself, so the approach is a walk through the village. By bus, get off at La Degollada, about 130 m away in a straight line. By car, the nearest car park is about 106 m away, and a second one lies about 480 m away. On foot from the hills, the Artenara – Cruz de Tejeda trail comes close: its information board stands about 100 m from the chapel.