Our Lady of the Close

Andosilla Patron (Navarre)

In the square of the Fueros de Andosilla, a basilica keeps under its temple the Virgin of the Near, patron of the villa, a Romanesque image that the tradition places on an old fence at the foot of the caves.

Origin and history

The image of the Virgin of the Close is a Roman sculpture of unknown author, dated in the late 13th or early 14th century. According to the local tradition, the image was found in the 8th century under the caves of Andosilla, on an ancient fence or fenced, from which it takes its name; this story is presented as a pious tradition, without documentary backing.

The cult was linked to a primitive hermitage on the rock, which had to be abandoned because of the risk of detachment: the image was first moved to the parish and then to the present basilica of the square of the Fueros, where it was venerated under a temple. She is a patron of Andosilla, with great popular veneration at the holidays and processions of 8 September, which accompany her through the streets of the villa.

Canonical coronation and chronology of the building: they do not record in detail in the sources.