Mare de Déu del Lledó

Copatrona de Valls (Tarragona)

In the old capuchin convent, Valls venerates the Mare de Déu del Lledó, co-patron of the city, whose name recalls the almez in which, according to tradition, his image was found.

Origin and history

The tradition refers that, by cutting trees in the bosc of Castelló, an image of the Virgin was found in a lledoner (almez), hidden in the time of the Saracena occupation, which returned prodigiously to the tree; therefore a chapel was erected next to the "miraculous almez." The cult is located around 1366-1367. In 1376 the chapel was given to the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, and in 1586 it passed to the Capuchin, becoming its convent.

The current church rose between 1722 and 1732; the altarpiece was projected by architect Cèsar Martinell in 1924 and restored after the Civil War. The Mare de Déu del Lledó, a Gothic image venerated in his cambril, is co-patron of Valls, and in his sanctuary the municipal corporation solemnly renews its commitments.

Date of the feast and canonical coronation: they are not safely recorded in the sources.