Mare de Déu de la Roca

Sanctuary excavated in the rock of Mont-roig del Camp (Tarragona)

Covered on top of the red rock that gives name to Mont-roig del Camp, a hermitage partially excavated in the stone guards the Mare de Déu de la Roca, religious and identity symbol of the people.

Origin and history

The hermitage of the Mare de Déu de la Roca is first documented in a 1230 will. Covered on top of the red rock - about 294 meters -, partly excavated on the stone, it has suffered destruction and reconstructions over the centuries; a sac with Latin inscription recalls the year 1591. The current image is a black wood size with 18th century characteristics, as the previous one was destroyed in 1936. The whole is protected as Cultural Good of National Interest.

The tradition places the finding of the original image in 1153, by a shepherd, under a palm tree, in the legendary realm. The hermitage is a religious and identity symbol of Mont-roig - "without the Hermitage you do not understand the history of the people" -; its feast is September 8, and devotion is also expressed in the "dance of Coques," jota mont- pray that it is held every year in the sanctuary.

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