The Mistery of Belicena Villca they remember her with a Cult . So the Lords of Tharsis , seized with visible excitement , declared that they wished to leave the Pagan Cult and become Christians . Such a volunteer conversion of such a powerful Roman Hispanic family , caused great satisfaction to the Catholic priests as it would add exemplary prestige to their evangelizing missions in the region . Hence , they willingly accepted the initiative of those of Tharsis to dedicate the Basilica to the Cult of the Virgen de la Gruta ( Virgin of the Grotto ).
And so began in the Villa de Turdes the Cult of Nuestra Señora de la Gruta ( Our Lady of the Grotto ), which would be famous in the South of Spain until the end of the Middle Ages , until the last of the Lords of Tharsis definitively left the peninsula and the Church promoted the prudent forgetting of it . To understand the intentions that the Lords of Tharsis hid after their conversion and establishment of the Cult of the Virgin , there is nothing more revealing than observing the Sculpture with which they replaced the Statue of Vesta .
Things had changed quite a bit since the Age of the Carthaginians . Now the Villa consisted of a huge Manor House on the terra dominicata and about fifty hectares of terra indominicata given to farming ; a peasant village , also called Villa de Turdes , had been raised near the Residence of the Lords of Tharsis ; and in a limit of the village , on a hill that sloped gently towards the Manor House , the Lords of Tharsis had destined for Church and local Parish an excellent Roman Basilica . The Catechumens , who were going to hear the missa catechumenorum , and the Faithful , who would later attend the particular missa fidelium , reached the atrium , a courtyard surrounded by columns , and passed next to the fountain called Cantharus , before entering the central nave . Built on a rectangular plan , the Basilica had three naves : two side naves that formed the Cross , and the central nave , which was divided by two columns of seats , occupied , on the right by men and , on the left , by women ; the central nave ended in the apse , a widening vaulted and elevated where the Sanctuarium stood . Normally , in all the churches of the time , at the back of the apse was the Episcopal Chair , which was the throne occupied by the Bishop , together with other seats , for the Presbyters . In the Basilica of Tharsis , the Episcopal Chair , as will be seen immediately , had been yielded to the Blessed Virgin . In front of the Episcopal Chair , in the center of the Sanctuary , was the sacra mensa of the Altar and , on it , the instruments of the Cult : the Chalice , the Paten , and the Perennial Lamp .
The culminating moment of the Mass of the Faithful takes place immediately after the Priest utters the words that institute the Eucharist : then he recites the epiclesis , an invocation to the Holy Spirit requesting his assistance to promote the miracle of the transmutation of the Bread and Wine , and draws a curtain that leaves exposed , in sight of the faithful , the Divine Image of the Virgin . The Faithful were absorbed in the Contemplation : the Sculpture of the Virgin is made of painted wood , of small dimensions : seventy centimeters high , thirty wide and thirty deep ; She sits , in a majestic attitude , on a Chair also of wood ; the face is of beautiful western features , since it reproduces one of the Ladies of Tharsis , and smiles softly as her eyes are fixed forward ; the hair falls in the shape of sixteen braids finely carved , arising immediately below the Crown ; because so much Her , like the Child , exhibit the attributes of Royal Dignity : both Crowns are triple and octagonal ; as for the Child , He is sitting on Her lap , on the left knee , while She lovingly supports Him by the shoulder with Her left hand : unlike the Sculpture of the Virgin , which is made of painted wood , that of the Child is made of White Stone ; Virgin of Wood , Child of Stone : the Virgin ' s face is painted in immaculate White , the Hair of Gold , the Body of Red and the Chair of Black ; with Her right hand , the Virgin holds a bundle of sixteen Ears of Wheat and a Rod , with the left hand holding the Child ; Her feet are apart , as are Her knees , and under the right foot it can be seen , crushed , the head of a snake sticking out ; the Child Krist King , for His part , stares straight ahead , in the direction where His Divine Mother is
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