The Hermitage Route 👨👩👧 🚗
A walk along the small, cosy hermitages that dot the vast territory of Benissa are a pleasant trip back in time towards the rural past.
The large size of Benissa’s municipal district led to the development of a number of scattered rural areas. Communications between the various settlements were poor, and this led to the construction of small churches in the most inhabited ones in the early 19th century, such as Sta. Anna, Pinos, Benimarraig, Lleus, Benimarco & Pedramala. These hermitages were built at the behest of the church and with the help of the local inhabitants to cover the religious and educational needs of the faithful, as small schools were also built near the hermitages to educate children. This, these rural areas became miniature cities. In the smallest ones, stately homes had a private chapel where religious services were held.
With the exception of the Santa Ana hermitage, which was built in 1613, all the other ones can be traced back to the early 1800’s.