The Hermitages
On an old door there is an inscription that explains us in few words what he is going to experience: "Blessed loneliness". Whenever you get in there are other
inscriptions: "Stop yourself and realize/ this place shares/ you die in life/ for living in the death/".
The hermits occupied this place in the XVIII Century, thank to Cardinal Salazar that gave them the plot. They disappeared in 1958 when this religious order began its decadence dying the last of them in 1958, he was Juan Vicente de la Madre de Dios. It was in that period whe the bishop decided to give this plots to the order of barefoot
carmelites, due to theit stylelife.
But you can remind them every step because it is full of texts, the cemetery is there and the high cypresses pointing to the sky. The stone path leads us to the Cruz del Humilladero, raised for "The Excellency Don Federico Martel de Bernuy, Count of Torres Cabrera, the protector of this holy retreat". Under the headstone there is a little niche with a skull that says: "as you see you I saw myself as you see me you will see you. All stops here Think about and don`t sin".
Before arriving to the hermitage there is a wonderful garden full of palms, in it there is a hermitage, the Mary Magdalene, raised in 1798, "supported economically and for the Excellency Duke de Arion", as the inscription says. The stick and the deb of this last
tenant, and other objects are conserved. The hermitage has got twelve niches, these after being occupied were covered and then white whitewashed without any name on it. It is surprising the fact that there is an opened niche waiting for being occupied by another hermit or person.
The silence, "el Silencio", is the name of the beautiful church with neoclassic style. It has a little cross plan, with the dome on the groins and the floor in marble. It has three altars, the main altar, built at the beginning of the XIX
Century, substitute the one burnt in a fire. In the middle there si a Virgin of Bethlehem with the Child, the Virgin is halfbody. On both sides of the transept there are two more altars one dedied to Saint Paul and Saint Anthony Abbot and the other to Saint Joseph. Behind the apse there is a little room where the Virgin of the Victories is kept.
When you go ot the church there is a slight slope that leads you to a plain: the Balcony of the World, a beautiful sightpoint with the most wonderful sights of Córdoba. Then there is a huge statue
of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, made in 1929 by the sevillian artist Lorenzo Coullaut Valera (see Tendillas Square, specifically The Union and the Phoenix Building, his work is the sculpture that crowns it).
Close to the complex we find a high cliff, popularly called the "Rodadero de los Lobos" (Precipice of the Wolves), where there is a white cross on a pedestal. Next there is a huge armchair carved in stone, ordered to be built in 1803 by Don Pedro Antonio de Trevilla, who later was bishop in Córdoba, between 1805 and 1832. This bishop was reminded for forbiding the celebration of the Holy Week parade during a lot of years. This stone armchair is known as "The Bishop Armchair" because that reason, and it is said to be used in the past by the girls, in fact those believed that sitting on it brought them good charm to find husband.
inscriptions: "Stop yourself and realize/ this place shares/ you die in life/ for living in the death/".
The hermits occupied this place in the XVIII Century, thank to Cardinal Salazar that gave them the plot. They disappeared in 1958 when this religious order began its decadence dying the last of them in 1958, he was Juan Vicente de la Madre de Dios. It was in that period whe the bishop decided to give this plots to the order of barefoot
carmelites, due to theit stylelife.
But you can remind them every step because it is full of texts, the cemetery is there and the high cypresses pointing to the sky. The stone path leads us to the Cruz del Humilladero, raised for "The Excellency Don Federico Martel de Bernuy, Count of Torres Cabrera, the protector of this holy retreat". Under the headstone there is a little niche with a skull that says: "as you see you I saw myself as you see me you will see you. All stops here Think about and don`t sin".
Before arriving to the hermitage there is a wonderful garden full of palms, in it there is a hermitage, the Mary Magdalene, raised in 1798, "supported economically and for the Excellency Duke de Arion", as the inscription says. The stick and the deb of this last
tenant, and other objects are conserved. The hermitage has got twelve niches, these after being occupied were covered and then white whitewashed without any name on it. It is surprising the fact that there is an opened niche waiting for being occupied by another hermit or person. The silence, "el Silencio", is the name of the beautiful church with neoclassic style. It has a little cross plan, with the dome on the groins and the floor in marble. It has three altars, the main altar, built at the beginning of the XIX
Century, substitute the one burnt in a fire. In the middle there si a Virgin of Bethlehem with the Child, the Virgin is halfbody. On both sides of the transept there are two more altars one dedied to Saint Paul and Saint Anthony Abbot and the other to Saint Joseph. Behind the apse there is a little room where the Virgin of the Victories is kept.
When you go ot the church there is a slight slope that leads you to a plain: the Balcony of the World, a beautiful sightpoint with the most wonderful sights of Córdoba. Then there is a huge statue
of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, made in 1929 by the sevillian artist Lorenzo Coullaut Valera (see Tendillas Square, specifically The Union and the Phoenix Building, his work is the sculpture that crowns it).
Close to the complex we find a high cliff, popularly called the "Rodadero de los Lobos" (Precipice of the Wolves), where there is a white cross on a pedestal. Next there is a huge armchair carved in stone, ordered to be built in 1803 by Don Pedro Antonio de Trevilla, who later was bishop in Córdoba, between 1805 and 1832. This bishop was reminded for forbiding the celebration of the Holy Week parade during a lot of years. This stone armchair is known as "The Bishop Armchair" because that reason, and it is said to be used in the past by the girls, in fact those believed that sitting on it brought them good charm to find husband.
Text: J.A.S.C.
Traslated by Sara Moretti
Art, Culture and Tourism in Cordoba