Hermitage (religious retreat)
A hermitage most authentically refers to a place where a hermit lives in seclusion from the world, or a building or settlement where a person or a group of people lived religiously, in seclusion. Particularly as a name or part of the name of properties its meaning is often imprecise, harking to a distant period of local history, components of the building material, or recalling any former sanctuary or holy place. Secondary churches or establishments run from a monastery were often called "hermitages".
Hermitage used by Charles de Foucauld in the Hoggar (Algeria)
A hermitage at Painshill Park.
Trinity hermitage at San Miguel de Aralar, Uharte-Arakil, Navarre.
Hermitage "Our Lady of the Enclosed Garden" in Warfhuizen, the Netherlands
A hermit, also known as an eremite or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions.
Saint Jerome, who lived as a hermit near Bethlehem, depicted in his study being visited by two angels (Cavarozzi, early-17th century)
Eremitic cave in Spain
Church of the hermitage "Our Lady of the Enclosed Garden" in Warfhuizen, Netherlands
St. Seraphim of Sarov sharing his meal with a bear
