The word ermita, which has a similar structure in all languages derived from Latin, holds the same meaning as its equivalents in non-Latin languages. It always refers to an uninhabited or isolated place. In Romance languages it comes from the Latin word eremus, again derived from Greek eremos, which means deserted. In Spain, the use of the hermitage has shifted throughout history, but it has always been an isolated sanctuary or chapel. Hermites have been living in them alone, or in other times, in small groups. Other hermitages were built by travellers, who tried to implore divine protection on their voyages. Finally, some hermitages were erected for pastoral cults, or to house religious brotherhoods.
The span between the disintegration of the Roman Empire and the triumphant birth of Romanesque art in Spain produced some remarkable Christian art and architecture, known as Preromanesque. First the Visigoths left their traces up to the year 711, date of the Islamic invasion. A second important phase, starting from the beginning of the Reconquista in the 8th century till the early 11th century, became known as Mozarabic. Whereas the Visigothic artistic development was abruptly severed by the muslim occupation, Mozarabic art took form as a result of northern migration of Christians under Muslim pressure. The skills of these Mozarab - or would-be Arab - migrants were strongly influenced by the Islamic arts and culture. Some of the most remarkable hermitages in Spain stem from these Preromanesque times.
The Christian reconquest of Spain obviously left a far more monumental mark than those earlier episodes of Christianity. Romanesque architecture boasts some of the most valued churches and monasteries of the country. On the other hand, beside these first-ranking buildings, the Romanesque era also produced a more humble and too often forgotten cultural heritage: the numerous humble sanctuaries that were built in the rough landscapes of northern Spain, often isolated from human settlement. While they survived many centuries, the last few decades dropped too many of them into a terrible state of abandon, or worse, a subject to destructive theft and vandalism.
This photographic mission has the ambition to document the present condition of the Romanesque and Preromanesque hermitages of Spain. But this work means to be more than an inventory. It is also a contemporary vision on this remarkable cultural heritage, an attempt to reveal the genius loci. These hermitages are not merely a matter of stones. They have a powerful significance and evoke strong emotions in the people who are related to them. Unfortunately, rural depopulation has cut off many of these buildings from their natural protector, the community. Yet our modern society seems to yearn to fill up the void left behind. Capturing their essence in images is maybe a very modest way to do so. A better appreciation of this often neglected heritage is also an essential step in a changing attitude towards its preservation.
The use of a camera obscura or pinhole camera creates a particular visual language, unequalled by the digital revolution in photography. Yet this elementary form of a camera is in fact no more than a wooden box with a tiny hole in it. Indeed, a poor man’s camera for the poor man’s church.
Note: none of these photographs are digitally manipulated.
