Mare de Déu de l’Alba

Patrona de Tàrrega (Lleida)

In the great Baroque church of Santa María de l'Alba, in the Plaza Mayor of Tàrrega, it venerates the Mare de Déu de l'Alba, patron of the city, which celebrates its feast on May 14.

Origin and history

In Tàrrega there was already in the 12th century a church dedicated to Santa Maria de l'Alba. The present temple is a large Baroque church built between 1672 and 1742, the work of the Carmelita Fray Josep de la Concepció and one of the references of the Catalan Baroque architecture. The image of the main altar is modern, the work of sculptor Manuel Martí Cabrer (1901-1951), paid for by popular subscription.

The Mare de Déu de l'Alba is the patron of Tàrrega and the center of its religious and civic identity; its feast, on May 14, is integrated into the Major Festa, the day after the feast of the Espines Santes. The accessible sources do not detail a concrete foundational legend or canonical coronation.

Detailed legendary origin and canonical coronation: not recorded in the sources.