Excavations at Cerro de la Virgen de Calasparra have brought to light an early Christian church that not only survived the Muslim conquest of 713, but remained in use for almost two more centuries. The church was identified thanks to various prospecting and excavation campaigns carried out in the area since 2021. Archaeologists describe it as a single-nave building with a tripartite chancel, a layout they see as characteristic of certain "late antique" churches. The researchers argue that there is no evidence that the church was converted into a mosque, nor that it immediately lost its religious function. In other words, the Christian community that used the church also took part in the fiscal mechanisms of the new Andalusi power.