Ermita de la Vera Cruz

The Ermita de la Vera Cruz is a Romanesque church-eremitorium located outside the walls of Maderuelo, in the province of Segovia, Castilla y León, in the surroundings of the historic village next to the river Riaza. It is a small temple of worship, closely linked to the religious and artistic heritage of the municipality, and protected as an Asset of Cultural Interest since 1924. Its construction dates back to the end of the 11th century or, more probably, to the beginning of the 12th century. It presents a very sober Romanesque architectural language, with a single nave, presbytery or rectangular chapel and semicircular triumphal arch. It is built with ashlar masonry in the most noble parts and calicanto masonry in the rest, a common solution in rural buildings of this period. The interior is notable for preserving an important set of 12th century Romanesque mural paintings, considered among the most remarkable in Spain. These paintings were transferred to the Prado Museum in 1947 to protect them from the flooding associated with the Linares reservoir, and a replica was later installed in the chapel to maintain the heritage interpretation of the space. The hermitage also preserves other Romanesque features of interest, such as the compositional simplicity of the volume, the barrel vault roof in the presbytery and the traditional masonry elements that reinforce its value as an exceptional testimony of the Romanesque style of Segovia in the rural area.