In this monastery, unique for being carved out of natural rock, we will not find light Gothic structures or harmonious Renaissance proportions. It is an ancient, rough, almost primitive site, witness to the first hermit settlements in these lands. The value of San Pedro de Roca is anthropological.
The presence of the first occupants of this place dates back to the year 573. According to the inscriptions on the founding tombstone, kept in the Provincial Archaeological Museum, its founders were seven men who chose this beautiful enclave to retire to a life of prayer. Later, in the 9th century, the knight Gemodus rediscovers the place on a hunting day and settles there, being elected abbot by his companions. Legend or reality, the fact is that there is evidence of the existence of Gemodus, as it appears in the privilege that Alfonso V granted to Rocas in 1007. In later centuries, this monastery, never too rich or very inhabited, came to depend on the from Santo Estevo de Ribas de Sil and from San Salvador de Celanova. In 1923 it was declared a Historic-Artistic Monument.
The 6th century monastery church is one of the oldest known Christian temples. Its three naves are carved out of the rock. The ceiling of the central nave has an opening through which light enters from the outside. A pilaster serves as an altar. In the wall of the chapel on the left, a small space of 5 x 3.40 m, a hole is opened in which it is assumed that the tomb of the knight Gemodus was. In it, a fresco wall painting, dated between 1175 and 1200, was discovered, which shows images of the apostles and a world map.
We can also see some sculpted tombs in which recumbent figures are represented. In the ground of the church and the atrium numerous tombs are excavated in the rock. The church enclosure was expanded with a new nave of later construction. The bell tower, the work of Gonzalo de Penalva in the 15th century, is located at the top of a huge rock formation almost 20 m high that gives this place its name.
An arch serves as an access to a small space, used until recently as a parish cemetery. It is quadrangular in shape and is closed by a wall. From this point there is a path that goes down the slope of the mountain and reaches the Fuente de San Bieito, also carved out of the rock.
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