Hermitages of Cordoba: a guide to visiting the Desierto de Nuestra Señora de Belén

The Hermitages of Cordoba are located on the outskirts of the city, on the CP-079 road (14012, Cordoba, Andalusia), within the area known as Desierto de Nuestra Señora de Belén, on the slopes of the Sierra Morena.

The most direct way to get there is by car along the Santa María de Trassierra road (CO-3314). If you're reasonably fit, there's also a walking trail from the El Brillante neighbourhood.

The site is not accessible for people with reduced mobility.

To visit the Hermitages of Cordoba, it's worth checking first which days they're open and how much admission costs, because access isn't available every day of the week.

Usual opening hours:

Monday and Tuesday: closed.

Wednesday and Thursday: 10:00–13:30.

Friday and Saturday: 10:00–13:30 and 16:30–18:30.

Admission:

€2 per person, paid at the entrance area.

Admission to the Hermitages of Cordoba costs €2 per person, and tickets are bought right at the entrance, in the entrance area of the complex. If you're in a group, it's best to check with your guide about possible discounts.

Within the Hermitages of Cordoba you'll find a group of fourteen Catholic chapels that, since the 18th century, have housed hermit monks. The hermitages in the complex are named:

San Mateo

San Matías

San Bartolomé

San Andrés

San Pedro

Santiago el Menor

La Magdalena

San Pablo

San Felipe

Santo Tomás

Santiago el Mayor

San Judas Tadeo

San Juan

San Simón

In addition, in 2022 the Regional Government of Andalusia approved listing Las Ermitas as a Site of Cultural Interest.

If you want to leave the Hermitages of Cordoba having seen the highlights, here are the points that best explain the complex during your visit.

Next to the complex's church façade there's a commemorative plaque recalling the visit of Isabel II on 16 September 1862, accompanied by her children Alfonso de Borbón (Prince of Asturias) and Isabel de Borbón. The inscription makes clear that the Congregation of hermits placed it as a token of gratitude for that visit.

Inside the church you can see a sculpture from the late 18th century dedicated to the Cristo de los Milagros (Christ of the Miracles), deeply venerated in Cordoba. Beside the image are these verses:

You who pass by, look at me / behold for a moment my wounds / and see how poorly you repay / the blood that I shed.

Beyond it, a glazed door gives a view into a small chamber of an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus beneath a kind of polychrome wooden canopy, flanked by an Infant Jesus of Prague and an effigy of Saint Paul the First Hermit.

Before heading down to the monument, it's worth stopping at the flat area known as the Balcón del Mundo, which locals use as a viewpoint over the city.

From there it's an easy walk down a short slope to the monument to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The original sculpture was the work of Seville sculptor Lorenzo Coullaut Valera and was unveiled in 1929. After various misfortunes, the statue seen today was unveiled in 1986, with a lighting system later added.

To understand the Hermitages of Cordoba, it helps to keep three ideas in mind: how the hermits came to the site, what happened when the Congregation disappeared, and who has driven its preservation in more recent times.

In 1703, hermits from various points across the Cordoba mountains were granted possession of El Cerro de la Cárcel, thanks to the support of Brother Francisco de Jesús before Cordoba City Council. From that point they could move there, and within around six years the church, the thirteen hermitages and the enclosure of the site were built — which from then on was known as Desierto de Nuestra Señora de Belén.

For more than two centuries the complex maintained religious life, with one interruption during the Mendizábal Confiscation. The Congregation eventually disappeared in 1957, and that same moment marks the most important change in the site's management: the Cathedral Chapter handed the complex over to the Order of Discalced Carmelites, an order with a way of life similar to that of the hermits. The reference point preserved in the site's own history is the death of the last hermit, Brother Juan Vicente de la Madre de Dios, after which that handover was formalised.

More recently, a key moment came in 1983 with the founding of the Amigos de las Ermitas association, created with the aim of preserving this site and raising its profile.

The Hermitages of Cordoba are about 15 kilometres from the city, on the slopes of the Sierra Morena, within the area known as Desierto de Nuestra Señora de Belén.

By car, you get there along the Santa María de Trassierra road (CO-3314).

If you're reasonably fit, there's a walking trail that climbs up from the El Brillante neighbourhood.