Our Lady of the Nativity

Patrona de Mentrida (Toledo) · "la Virgen de Berciana"

In the dehesa of Berciana, a hermitage guards the patron of Mentrida, Our Lady of Nativity; every April a rosemary with dancers and butlers who give him an honor guard rises to his sanctuary.

Origin and history

The image, also called Virgin of Berciana, is the patron of Mentrida, venerated in the hermitage of the Nativity or of Berciana, a building consecrated around 1645. The local tradition links the devotion to an apparition of the Virgin in the dehesa of Berciana to 1270, which the sources present expressly as legend; the documented history of the temple starts with the hermitage of the 17th century.

The most identifiable devotional feature is the Romeria of April 25, in which the Virgin is accompanied by dancers and butlers who keep a guard of ceremonial honor; the whole religious-festival is one of the signs of identity of Mentrida and gathers the villa around its patron.

Canonical coronation: not found in the sources.