Spain's Most Hidden Hermitages

A Romanesque hermitage on the outskirts of Contrasta, in the Arana Valley in Álava: a small destination for anyone seeking unpretentious heritage far from the busiest routes.

A small hermitage on the outskirts of Vinaròs, at a crossroads of traditional paths, ideal as the destination for a short walk from the town centre.

A hermitage dedicated to St John crowns an islet battered by the Bay of Biscay, linked to the mainland by a two-arched bridge: medieval history and protected landscape just off Bermeo.

The former church of Ternils, a vanished village beside Carcaixent, is the oldest building in the municipality: Reconquest-era Gothic with a painted ceiling and a 15th-century Last Supper.

A small hermitage of Romanesque origin tucked away in Collserola, beside an old Roman road, where the popular Sant Medir pilgrimage takes place every 3 March.

On the slopes of Mount Beloki, above Zumárraga, this Romanesque and Gothic hermitage holds an astonishing oak structure assembled without a single nail: the cathedral of Basque hermitages.