Mare de Déu de la Bovera

Santuario Cisterciense de Guimerà (Lleida)

On a hill to the west of Guimerà, an ancient Cistercian monastery guards the Mare de Déu de la Bovera, to which the region goes up in Rome on Easter Monday.

Origin and history

The place was a Cistercian female monastery: in 1190 Pere de Térrega founded Santa María de la Bovera on a pre-existing church, under the direction of his daughter Elisenda, the first abbess; it has been documented as a monastery of Cister nuns since 1195. It retains medieval elements (part of the Romanesque cloister) and the image of the Virgin, dating back to the late 12th or early 13th century. The current Baroque church was raised by Ramon Nicolau between 1726 and 1730 on behalf of the Dukes of Híjar.

The tradition refers that a shepherd found the image in the trunk of an oak, and that every time they went down to Guimerà he returned prodigiously to the hill, a sign of raising the sanctuary there. It is one of the most loved places in the region, with aplecs and romanias, especially on Easter Monday.

Formal patronage and canonical coronation: they are not safely recorded in the sources.