Our Lady of the Sacred Rock

Hermitage on the rock, at the foot of La Pedriza · Manzanares el Real (Madrid)

On a large granite rock at the foot of La Pedriza, the hermitage of La Peña Sacra guards the patron of Manzanares el Real, in an enclave held as sacred since remote times.

Origin and history

The hermitage of the Peña Sacra is a building of the late 15th or 16th century - the only survivor of the seven that the municipality had -, raised on a granite boat of about 70 meters, on the right bank of the Manzanares River, one kilometre from the village, at the foot of La Pedriza. The local tradition attributes to the enclave a very ancient sacred character, dating back to the preroman rites of the carpetans around the great rocks, in the key of tradition.

She's a patron of Manzanares the Real. His own day is on the Monday of Pentecost, when the town goes up in procession to the hermitage and celebrates the Romeria in the nearby meadows, presided by the so-called Canto Redondo, with meals and dances. The interior opens to the cult mainly that day.

Canonical coronation and specific miracles: they are not recorded in the sources.