The Abrics de l'Ermita Interpretation Centre for Rock Art

Located within the Ermita de la Pietat (the Piety Hermitage), just to the side of the rock shelters, the centre provides visitors with a comprehensive overview of Levantine art and, more succinctly, the 13 rock shelters that comprise the site. With the use of graphic resources, photographs and tracings taken from the paintings, the visitor will come to understand this artistic and historical legacy in an enjoyable fashion.

History of Abrics de l'Ermita

The Abrics de l'Ermita (Hermitage Rock Shelters), situated up in the Serra de Godall (Ulldecona), preserve an exceptional sequence of cave paintings that have been declared World Heritage. The art sequence stands out not only for the extraordinary number of preserved paintings, but also for the quality and formal diversity of its representations.

On 31 March 1975, a young speleologist from the Centre Cultural i Recreatiu d’Ulldecona (Cultural and Recreational Centre of Ulldecona) discovered, in a small mountain cave, the first morphs attributed to the Serra de Godall cave art sequence. These findings marked the beginning of an exploratory campaign that uncovered no less than fourteen decorated rock shelters. The majority of the paintings, found up till now, correspond stylistically to Levantine art. Only the Cova Fosca (Dark Cave) walls, a zone known as Abric IV (Rock Shelter IV), offer examples of abstract schematic figures. Some 386 morphs can be seen over the almost 500 meters that compose the Serra de Godall rock art sequence, distributed unequally across the various rock shelters. Of these morphs, more than half depict archers (111) and distinct animal species (82). The remaining representations correspond to hunting-related elements (foot prints, animal prints, arrows, etc.) or are undetermined fragments that cannot be identified.

The Levantine paintings at Serra de Godall reflect a world of beliefs and mythic hunting tales, in which part of the society participated, possible heroes or legendary characters, gods, specialists in charge of performing rituals and numerous regional animal species. These steep cliffs must have been a good setting for catching animals. Furthermore, the location was most likely a place of gathering, where determined rituals were performed.

Painting thus became a means of communication; scored significant points or places "sacred" ceremonies where they wore out and allows to maintain the traditions of historical memory and cultural values of inhabitants of that territory.