Ermita del Pópul

The Ermita del Pópul stands in open countryside on the southern slope of Montgó, on the road toward Jesús Pobre and outside the built-up area of Jávea. It is one of the so-called "conquest hermitages," built between the 14th and 15th centuries after the Christian conquest of the area in the 13th century, and its rough stone construction places it among the oldest in the area.

History

Like the rest of Jávea's conquest-era hermitages, it follows a simple layout: a single nave, a gabled roof carried on diaphragm arches, and one entrance door. Quarters for a hermit were added in the 18th century, and a sacristy in the 19th. Beside the altar, a small pointed-arch niche from the 15th-16th centuries survives, now holding a cypress-wood statue by local sculptor Juan Bautista Devesa, known as "el Santeret," carved after the Spanish Civil War, during which the building suffered serious damage. It stood abandoned until 1972, when it was restored to host worship shared between the Catholic and Anglican churches, an unusual arrangement among the area's hermitages.

Visiting

Inside, the pointed arch and the plainness typical of the area's medieval hermitages remain largely untouched, with very little added decoration. The setting, well within the Montgó Natural Park, is part of the appeal in itself: there is no development nearby, only terraced fields, pines and the massif itself, and comfortable footwear helps since the final stretch is on foot. Another Jávea hermitage with a very different history, the Ermita del Calvario, sits beside the road into town. Anyone wanting more of the area's conquest-era religious heritage should also see the Iglesia-Fortaleza de San Bartolomé, in the Casco Antiguo, Jávea's best-known example. Comfortable shoes are worth packing regardless of season, since the final approach runs over uneven, unpaved ground with little shade along the way.