ESCLAVITUD HERMITAGE

De Cihuri al cielo

AN EMBLEMATIC SPOT

The walk continues along vineyards, to the north of Cihuri, about 3 km away from the village and as an example of sacred geometry. You can admire one of the most emblematic places, the Esclavitud Hill, so called because there was a farm and hermitage where the Virgin who appeared in the place with the same name was worshiped.

The hermitage, built on a monastic cave, which was already inhabited in Visigoth and Mozarab times, was one of the many hermitages in the Tirón river region and the Obarenes mountains. The cave still exists and represents the tradition of the area. The greatest number of these buildings is located on the left bank of the Ebro, although its location in the region is rather disperse.

THE HERMITAGE (1631-2019)

In 1631, the Abbot of the Monastery of San Millán rebuilt the Hermitage dedicated to the Virgen de la Esclavitud, destroyed later due to the French invasion. Cihuri City Hall reconstructed it in 2019, in the shape of a guardaviñas (shelter) wrapped by a large cross 20 meters high, whose structure contained a figure of the Virgen de la Esclavitud. All this was conceived according to the golden ratio, based on sacred geometry and the biblical symbology of numbers. Spirituality, nature, and heaven come along with the always present vineyards.

The hermitage building is of recent construction (2019). Apparently simple with a single floor of 100 m2, it was perfectly integrated into the environment. The guardaviñas (shelter) are popular architectural elements of the vineyard practices.

Within the Rioja Alta region, these buildings, with a generally circular floor plan and false dome, were usually built in stone with very little mortar and were made of brick or ashlar stone. They were used as a shelter for farmers and farm animals, store for tools, fridges, and surveillance posts. In the second half of the 19th century, they grew in proportion after the French phylloxera, although they suffered a certain neglect because of industrialization.

On May the 15th, we celebrate the festival in honour of San Isidro Labrador, patron of farmers. On this day, it is tradition to join in the pilgrimage to the Cerro de la Esclavitud, where you can enjoy nature and a country meal. The view of the vineyards will be on one side and the mountains will be on the other, making up the ideal setting for a relaxing day, in a true haven of peace. From Cihuri, to heaven.

ESCLAVITUD PARK

We have built the 10,000 m2 Esclavitud park, located 3 km away from Cihuri and in the south face of the Obarenes Mountains. Five hundred years ago and in the same area, the monks of San Millán owned the farm and Sanctuary of the Virgen de la Esclavitud, as well as a Visigoth HERMITAGE, on which the new HERMITAGE dedicated to our Patron of La Virgen de la Esclavitud was built back in 2019.

In the new park, you have access to parking, trees, fountains, barbecues, picnic areas, pergolas, and a lake from where you can see, to the south, a great landscape of vineyards in their different seasons. If you look further, you can admire, to the north, the Sierra de la Demanda with its snow-capped San Lorenzo peak and the Obarenes Mountains with the Peñas de Jembres.

PHOTO GALLERY

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CIHURI TURISMO

info@cihuriturismo.com / Ayuntamiento de Cihuri. C/. Real , 34. Cihuri, La Rioja, Spain / Phone: 941 32 01 01