Our Lady of Villaviciosa

Villaviciosa de Córdoba · image in the Mezquita- cathedral of Córdoba

Venerated at the same time in its serrana hermitage of Villaviciosa of Córdoba and in the Mezquita-cathedral of Córdoba, Our Lady of Villaviciosa gave origin to the people themselves, born around their sanctuary in Sierra Morena.

Origin and history

The devotion to the Virgin of Villaviciosa is documented in the diocese of Córdoba since the 16th century, when the Cabildo Cathedral promoted its worship. The original image, the Marian size of the 15th century, is kept in the tabernacle of the Major Chapel of the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba: in times of calamity it was carried in procession from the saw to the city, and in 1698 the Cabildo decided to install it permanently in the Cathedral. The town of Villaviciosa of Córdoba was formed around its sanctuary, and in 1776 the present hermitage was built to house a replica of the image.

The tradition links the advocation to the Portuguese shrine of Vila Viçosa and to the legend of the cowboy Hernando, who would have brought the image from Portugal to the saw of the Gamonosas; it is transmitted as legend, without documentation. The advocation maintains a unique double link: the Serrano people with their hermitage and Romeria, and the Cathedral of Córdoba with the image of the 15th century, in a shared devotion between the capital and the north of the diocese.

Date of the feast / rosemary and diocesan confirmation of the coronation (1988): they are not safely recorded in the sources.