The formidable rock church of Saint Mary of Valverde

Moving away a few kilometers from the Ebro Canyons and the spectacular little towns that live on the edge of its imposing singularities and heading towards the heart of that ancient place of mysteries - where the fundamental key was the prolonged persistence of a hermitical phenomenon that assaulted the hearts of many of those Visigoths who saw their world collapse after the fall of their empire in the 7th century - which is Valderredible, to visit one of the most interesting and enigmatic of the cave churches that, to a greater or lesser extent, take up a good part of the region: Saint Mary of Valverde.

The rock church of Saint Mary of Valverde, located in the municipality of Valdelomar, almost at the foot of a winding regional road that connects the towns of Quintanilla de las Torres and Villanueva de la Nía, occupies a privileged place in a fertile valley that It maintains a timely, if not prodigious, intimacy, surrounded by leafy forests.

It is, together with the church of Olleros de Pisuerga, located, not far away, but within the regional limits of neighboring Palencia, the most important cave church in the region and possibly also in Spain.

In fact, if it were not for the modern structure that was built a few years ago with the intention of protecting the complex and the medieval belfry that stands a few meters from it, also marking the location of an important cemetery of anthropomorphic tombs , excavated in the rock and with its characteristic head pointing towards the east, towards the sunrise, determining a marked symbolism defending the belief in the resurrection, this unique temple, where a multitude of burials with similar characteristics are also observed on the surface due to its compact rock roof, it could be perfectly confused with a solid, spectacular bunker.

And, in fact, if we see it from the point of view of romanticism and metaphor, we could consider it as such: a bastion where faith was kept protected from the stalkings and dangers of an outside, marked, of course, by the media singularities of the time.

It is exciting, on the other hand, to observe that, although inside it preserves the same characteristics as any other temple, with its altar facing west, its nave and its chapels of the Epistle and the Gospel, the charm of its rustic harmony, It irremediably seduces the spirit, evoking that genesis, as the phlegmatic English writer, G.K. Chesterton, would say, of those first temples of humanity, which were, without a doubt, the caves.

Although it has electric lighting, it also has several small windows, carved into the hard surface of the rocky mantle, which, located at the height of the altar - one in front and one on one of the sides - allow sunlight to enter, which, focusing on this, offers one of those comparative 'special effects' of the time, propitiatory when it comes to empowering the faithful with the appropriate sermon.

It also has a magnificent, Romanesque, cup-shaped baptismal font, completely smooth except for two crosses, with characteristic kicks engraved on that imaginary line or transept, which would unite the directions between north and south.

There is also a tombstone, whose inscription allows us to recognize at least the name of one of the important figures who was buried there, Antonio Gómez Navamuel, who is known to have been a page and knight of a military order - in this case, undetermined - of the Dukes of Infantado.

Magnificent, in addition, is also the image of Saint María de Valverde breastfeeding the Child, belonging to a century, the 16th, in which this type of images were declared prohibited, because, incomprehensibly, according to the ecclesial canons of the time, they violated against decorum, when, in reality, one might think that there is nothing more beautiful in this world than a mother nursing her offspring.

From the outside, it is worth highlighting the beautiful belfry or bell tower, where the most striking piece, due to its beauty and delicate constitution, is formed by the remains of a spiral staircase, whose precious elements suffered the plundering of the friends of others, in relatively modern times, to the point that the parish priest had to intervene in the matter.

Because, despite the millennium, the countless centuries that have passed, the rock church of Saint Mary of Valverde continues to be active, carrying out, not just a cemetery, but its pastoral work in many of the small rural enclaves located nearby, being, of course, a living example of durability and resilience, which may seem totally incredible, especially if we compare it with the times in which we live, where new technologies place us abysses away from these small worlds, which, As the French surrealist poet, Paul Eluard, said, they are also in this one.

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