Our Lady of the Kings

Patrona de El Hierro · La Dehesa

In the lonely Dehesa of El Hierro, "heart of herreña devotion," it venerates the patron of the island; every four years, its Bajada walks almost 30 kilometers to Valverde in one of the most unique romaneries in the Canary Islands.

Origin and history

According to tradition, the image came to El Hierro on a ship to America on January 6, 1546, the day of the Epiphany - hence the title "of the Kings" -, exchanged by the sailors with the shepherds in exchange for supplies; it was first venerated in a cave until the hermitage was built. The documented history places the first mass in the hermitage on April 25, 1577, and a 1741 vote committed the Bajada every four years, in thanksgiving for the rain.

The Virgin is attributed to the end of two great droughts (1643 and 1740), after which she was recognized as patron of El Hierro. In 2013 the ancient hermitage was declared Island Sanctuary. Its most unique feature is the Lustral Bajada: every four years, on the first Saturday of July, a multitudinarian pilgrimage has moved the image the almost 28 km that separate La Dehesa from Valverde, the capital.

Canonical coronation: not found in the sources.