Our Lady of Xunqueira

"La Aparecida" · Sanctuary of Cee (A Coruña)

In Cee, in the heart of the Costa da Morte, Our Lady of Xunqueira, "the Apparition," is venerated; tradition tells that some sailors found her among the reeds on the shore after a storm.

Origin and history

Tradition tells that some foreign sailors, taking refuge on the coast of Cee during a storm, found an image of the Virgin and Child among the reeds (xunqueira), venerated ever since as Our Lady of the Xunqueira or "the Apparition." The old church of Santa María de Cee, documented at least since the 15th century, with elements dating back to the 14th, was built upon this devotion.

The original church was burned down by Napoleonic troops in April 1809; rebuilt afterward, the current sanctuary was erected between the 19th and 20th centuries on the site of the old church and has been canonically recognized as a sanctuary by the archbishopric. Our Lady of Xunqueira is the central figure of devotion in the town of Cee.

Exact date of the feast and canonical coronation: not confirmed by the sources.