If you already know Covadonga and later discover this place, you will be amazed at the aesthetic, mystical and historical parallels between it and a place in the Cangas Valley, where it is said that Don Pelayo started the war against the Muslims, and that, in those times, it was known as the Dominican Cave. There are those who consider this overwhelming space as the Andalusian Covadonga and, according to tradition, the Virgin of Tíscar appeared here, an image exalted after the fall of the Arab fortress in the 14th century. The building is less majestic than the Asturian one, but the sacred cave ...

The enclave must have been sacred since ancient times. Tradition speaks of an appearance in the Cueva del Agua, which is actually a closed canyon sculpted by the Arroyo de Tíscar. This tradition also says that it was already venerated in times when the Arabs maintained a square that they considered impregnable, just above the grotto. On the main floor of the Moorish fortress, the current abode of Our Lady was erected, dating from the 15th or 16th centuries, with subsequent remodeling.

In front of the entrance to the hermitage there is a fountain with a poem by Antonio Machado, dedicated to the patron saint of Quesada. From the old fort, the majestic keep remains, with the coat of arms of Pedro I (11th century) embedded in the stonework and the walled enclosure of the parade ground, riding on a difficult-to-reach hill of Peña Negra, a spectacular vertical wall , frequented by ibex, vultures and eagles. You can go up to it, from the sanctuary, by a metal staircase.

You go down to Cueva del Agua by a paved lane that starts from the A-6206 itself, about 300 m away. from the sanctuary, where you can access some modest car parks, from where stairs lead down to a narrow and low tunnel (you have to bend down to cross it) through which a ditch runs that carries water to the nearby traditional orchards. Crossing the artificial hollow, the road offers us several alternatives to visit this magical place. Here, on a small hole in the wall of the cave, there is a small replica of the Virgin, where devout locals, considering that this is their first and true abode, deposit their offerings. It is recommended to wear shoes with non-slip soles and to take extreme precautions, as the floor and stairs are sometimes slippery.

We suggest ...

Visit the source of the Arroyo de Tíscar and the Vadillo de Tíscar picnic area, very close to the sanctuary.
Tíscar is at a crossroads, just above the villages of Don Pedro and Belerda. The A-6206 road, also known as Tíscar, which connects Quesada with Hinojares and Pozo Alcón passes through a tunnel that crosses the rocky wall on which the Sanctuary and the Castle of Peña Negra stand and under which the Cave is located. of the water. Hinojares is 12 km away, Quesada 15 km and Pozo Alcón 17 km. However, the closest town is Huesa (10 km). A narrow local road starts from the town itself which, passing through Belerda, connects with the previous one very close to the place.