Santa Maria de Lara

The church of Santa María de Lara, also known as the Ermita (English: hermitage) de Santa María, is one of the last surviving Visigoth churches on the Iberian Peninsula, located near the village of Quintanilla de las Viñas, not far from the city of Burgos, in the Castile and León region in Spain,Archeologists have yet to confirm its period of construction but the church has been placed by scholars have placed it between the 7th century, where it is more frequently located, and the 10th century. The church is notable not only for its age and architectural type, but also because it is believed to contain the earliest representation of Christ in Spanish religious art. It was classified as a national monument on November 25, 1929.

The geographical area surrounding Santa María De Lara was populated by numerous Roman villae preceding the construction of the church. After the Visigoths had invaded the Iberian Peninsula (particularly the area we now know as Spain) and the Romans had left the area, they settled in Quintillana de las Vinas, and built the church of Santa María De Lara, around the beginning of the 8th century. Soon afterwards, in 711 AD, the Moors invaded the Iberian Peninsula and Lara was abandoned as the populace fled north to the mountains.

In the 9th century, during the Spanish Reconquista, the areas that were previously abandoned (such as Lara), were repopulated, although the buildings were largely in ruins. Santa María De Lara was neglected during the period of Moorish rule, and therefore the church had to be rebuilt. A funerary stela that is now housed in the Museum of Burgos that has been studied by archeologists, is believed to record the date of the reconstruction of Santa María De Lara. It is inscribed with the letters DCCCC (...), and despite the only partial remnant of the date, it is widely believed that this refers to the year 902 (bearing in mind that the inscription adheres to the Spanish medieval dating system, from which 38 years must be subtracted to obtain the European chronological year).

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