Church of San Pedro de la Mata

The ruined monastic site of S. Pedro de la Mata is located in the middle of the countryside, at about 3 km southwest of the village (pedanía) of Casalgordo,(see note1) in the municipality of Sonseca (province of Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain).

The original foundations of a church, a granite platform, can be clearly seen. Actually, S. Pedro de la Mata is a kind of semi-cave construction. Some fragments of walls and a couple of arches can also be seen.

The church appears to have gone through various phases, and dating of its features is problematic. According to traditional historiography, it was originally the church of a monastery, one of those that grew, promoted by the nobility, around the capital city of the Visigothic Kingdom of Toledo, similar to the case of Santa María de Melque not far from S. Pedro de la Mata. This origin would allow us to date the first church between 589 (conversion of Visigothic nobility to Catholicism) and 711 (takeover of the Visigothic kingdom by Muslim invasion).

Conservation

The site was given protection in the 1931 under Spanish legislation. It is listed as Ermita de San Pedro de la Mata. Its state has recently given cause for concern, according to the Spansh heritage organisation Hispania Nostra.[1]

San Pedro de la Mata is being considered for World Heritage Site status along with nine other Mozarabic sites. The submission was made in 2019 by the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sport and it was included on a "tentative list" (part of the nominating process).[2]

Access

The place can be reached by a dirt road starting west of the church of Casalgordo.

Museum collections

In the nearby village (pedanía) of Arisgotas, municipality of Orgaz, there is a small Visigothic museum.[3] The museum includes material from San Pedro and a Visigothic archaeological site 3 km away called Los Hitos. It features carved stones that were looted by the local inhabitants for use as construction materials. In recent years, many of these Visigothic stones have been extracted from the walls of the village houses and deposited in the collection.

There is material from San Pedro in the Museum of Santa Cruz in Toledo.[2]

Notes
1.^ The name appears in some publications as San Pedro of Arisgotas or Casalgordo for nearby settlements.

References
  1. "Ermita de San Pedro de la Mata de Casalgordo".
  2. "Group of Mozarabic buildings on the Iberian Peninsula". UNESCO. Retrieved 2019-06-15.
  3. "Museum of Visigothic Art".

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