The remains of what church are in the picture?

The church of Santa María de Lara, also known as the Ermita (English: hermitage) de Santa María, is one of the last surviving Visigoth churches on the Iberian Peninsula, located near the city of Burgos in the Castile and León region of Spain.

Archeologists have yet to confirm its period of construction but the church has been placed by scholars between the 7th century and the 10th century. It is notable not only for its age and architectural type, but also because it is believed to contain the earliest representation of Christ in Spanish religious art. It was classified as a national monument on November 25, 1929. The picture is a view of the surviving west face of the Visigothic church.

In 1038, the church was donated to the nearby monastery of San Pedro de Arlanza and from then on the church began a gradual decline both in religious status and architectural stability. Undated documents from the Archbishop of Burgos later refer to it as a 'hermitage'. After that, the church was abandoned and parts of the building collapsed, and much of its ancient carvings and decoration was lost.

Extensive excavations were carried out in 1930 that revealed a large amount of data showing the area was inhabited from early times. The research undertaken in the 1920s and 1930s has given us almost all we know about the church today. Many of the artefacts uncovered, such as funerary stelae, dolmens and objects from Roman villae, are now housed in the 'Museo Provincial de Burgos.