El Rocio and its Famous Virgin

In Spain people who know of El Rocio (who don't live near there) will recognize the name of the town for one main reason - the legend of the Virgin of El Rocio. Here is a representation of the virgin keeping watch over potable water.





















Whether the story of the Virgin of El Rocio lies in the historical account or the more interesting legend is upto you. The two versions according to the website elrocio.to are as follows:

"HISTORY refers to King Don Alfonso, known as The Wiseman, who in 1280 commissioned a chapel to be built on the banks of the Guadalquivir River. Don Alfonso chose this location because the local farmers, shepherds and hunters, used to worship the Gothic image of a virgin, of unknown origin, that they called Santa Maria de las Rocinas.

But the Rocieros prefer another LEGEND, of a hunter who went deep into the Rocinas, a dense area of forest, where he found the statue of a Virgin stuck fast among some fallen trees. With great effort, he managed to free the statue from the trunks and carried it his back for several kilometres. As the statue was very heavy, he became tired and stopped for a rest and fall asleep. When he woke up he was amazed that the image had disappeared. He went back to where he had originally found the Virgin and could not believe his eyes when he saw that it was back in exactly the same place where he had found it, amongst the fallen tree trunks. From this he understood that the Virgin wanted her temple to be erected on this spot, and nowhere else.

Today, this legend is commemorated every seven years, where the statue of the Virgin at El Rocío is taken at night in a procession to Almonte. As she enters the village, she is welcomed by cheers and the sound of shotguns, that honour the hunter who first found her."

So which story do you like better? Whichever, story you believe is up to you - and you won't be the only believer. Every year in early May over 1 MILLION people descend on this small village, the church and the Hermitage of Nuestra Senora del Rocio. It is at the hermitage that the hosted a statue of the virgin accredited with being responsible for numerous apparitions of the virgin since 1280 (according to the Eyewitness Travel Guide to Andalusia and Sevilla). Pilgrims come by bike, by car, by foot, and of course by horse! In fact, I saw somewhere that during that week in May of the pilgrimage there is the largest gathering of horses in ALL OF EUROPE!

Here is a nice view of the church that is associated with the virgin.















The night we arrived in El Rocio there were two things we noted the numerous horse drawn carriages tied out outside the beautifully white-washed two story houses and the brilliant light emanating from the center of town. For some reason (even though it was a Thursday) the church was open and there were a lot of people going in an out. Here is a photo of the very ornate alter.





















Most of the postcards of El Rocio are of the church, but I think this photo has got just about every postcard shot beat. I love that the horses are just there in front with their riders, waiting patiently. What are they waiting for? Perhaps a visit from the virgin?





















And while we don't know who or what these riders were waiting for, we can be quite sure that the church-goers buying what seem to be lottery tickets from this guy (standing in the ENTRYWAY of the church) are hoping the virgin blesses them with lottery luck :-)