Sergio Rojo Rehabilitates Spain's Rock-Cut Peña de las Bodegas

Architect Sergio Rojo has completed the rehabilitation of the Peña de las Bodegas rock-cut complex in Albelda de Iregua, La Rioja, Spain, using a backlit floating timber floor and no concrete or cement whatsoever.

The complex belongs to a historic group of excavated spaces set between Peña Salagona and Peña de las Bodegas. Over centuries, its chambers served as columbaria, livestock shelters, and eremitic and monastic dwellings — the latter linked to the nearby Monastery of San Martín. Locals call the site the Scriptorium, a reference to the Codex Vigilanus, or Codex Albeldensis, written in the monastery's surroundings.

What makes the site architecturally unusual?

Workers carved the complex directly into salagón, a clay-rich stone characteristic of the region's cliffs. Its architecture results from the removal of material, not the addition of new construction. The interior extends across two levels connected by stairs.

Other distinctive features include:

• A large exterior access area overlooking the valley and the natural gateway to the Cameros region
• Two long ventilation shafts, known locally as zarceras or tuferas, typical of La Rioja's excavated winery architecture

How does the intervention protect the carved interiors?

Rojo's approach introduces only a small number of new elements while retaining the existing rock-cut structure. An exterior area with benches creates a gathering space. Cleaned stone surfaces make the excavated rooms more legible to visitors.

Inside, the backlit floating timber floor guides circulation through the complex, and the openings in the western rock face have been redefined to increase natural light.

The intervention relies entirely on dry construction systems. By avoiding concrete and cement, Rojo keeps the new work reversible and minimizes changes to the excavated architecture. Timber and the existing stone form the primary material palette, pairing new elements with the material already present on site.

The project demonstrates how minimal, removable interventions can reactivate heritage rock-cut spaces without altering their substance — a model relevant to the many excavated wineries and hermitages scattered across La Rioja's cliffs.