Our Lady of Cuatrovitas

Mudéjar hermitage on Almohade Mosque · Balls of the Mitation (Sevilla)

In an ancient Christian Almohad mosque, from which its alminar is still raised, it venerates Nuestra Señora de Cuatrovitas, patron of Bollullos de la Mitación and protagonist of the oldest Romeria in the province of Seville.

Origin and history

The Cuatrovitas hermitage rises on an ancient Almohade mosque - from which the alminar is preserved -, adapted to Christian veneration after the conquest; a simple basilical plant, is a notable example of the re-use of Islamic architecture and was declared a National Monument in 1931. The headline image is a size of the 18th century. Tradition tells that it was found by a shepherd, hidden in a well during the Muslim stage, and that the name "Cuatrovitas" would remember "the four Moors that inhabited the tower."

She was named Patron of Balls of the Mitation in 1957 - before it was the Virgin of Rondesvalles - and is also venerated as Patron of the Verdean of the Olives of the Aljarafe. He received the canonical coronation on 16 September 1980 from Cardinal Bueno Monreal. His Romeria, attested to since 1595, is the oldest in the province of Seville: on the fourth Sunday of October the Virgin is taken from the parish of San Martín de Tours to her hermitage, with reels, carroza of oxen and cavalists.