CASA CRISTO SANCTUARY.

Hermitage located 6 kilometres from the centre of Moratalla, built in the 17th century in a popular Baroque style that underwent significant changes in the following centuries, during which the single nave was enlarged and the original Mudejar roof was removed, while the wall was made more mobile by means of cornices and adjoining pilasters.

It is covered by a half-barrel vault, with a high choir at the base. The presbytery is covered by a quarter-sphere vault with gadroons, surmounted in the centre by a plaster finial. Behind it, a large semicircular arch increases the height of the nave, where a large wooden shrine houses the image of Cristo Aparecido, the patron saint of Moratalla. The altarpiece itself serves as a chapel.

The former entrance to the chapel can be seen on the outside. Above the entrance, with a semicircular arch, there is a balcony that provides natural light to the choir and the exterior, which in the past was used to ward off storms that threatened lives and property, an act for which the image was moved from its usual place in the temple.

There are also semi-circular openings with wrought-iron railings on either side of the balcony. The origin of its construction is linked to the story of the appearance of Christ to the shepherd Rui Sánchez on 19 April 1493.the chapel was originally part of the Mercedaires convent, which was disused in the 19th century. Part of the arches of its cloister, made of exposed bricks, remain attached to it, giving the image of the place.

By the early 1990s, the church was in a deplorable state of disrepair, and the task of restoring it was entrusted to the Moratalla workshop school. This marked the start of work on the architectural complex, which lasted 10 years, during which various institutions and organisations collaborated to bring it to its current state.

The architectural complex in which the hermitage is located comprises four different areas: the church and sacristy, an exhibition area where the Regional Centre for the Interpretation of Rock Art is located, a hostel and a gastronomic area, as well as communal areas and courtyards where the emblematic arches of the former cloister can be seen.