Gheisa d'la Tana

Gheisa d'la Tana. (Church in the Cave). When forbidden to build churches, Waldensians held worship services secretly in woods or caves. They also fled there to escape capture and death during times of siege. One such hiding place was the Gheisa d'la Tana (Church in the Cave). Its low, narrow entrance was well concealed by trees and rocks. One could enter only by crawling on hands and knees. Imagine the kind of determined faith that led these men, women, and children to crawl into a cave to find a safe place to worship., Entering this full-scale replica of the Gheisa d'la Tana, and noting in particular the contours of the interior rocks, one can easily imagine, as did the Waldensians, that God split this mountain rock with a great quake to provide them a haven for worship. At one end a small shaft of light breaks the darkness over a natural stone platform where the pastor stood to preach., Fear of capture was always imminent. Once soldiers followed the Waldensians fleeing from their village and saw them disappear into the mountain side. Finding the split above the cave, the soldiers built a fire of wet brush over it and forced the smoke into the cave. Eventually, as the Waldensians were forced to exit, the soldiers pursued and killed them one by one.