Our Lady of the Pine

Patron of the diocese of the Canary Islands · Teror (Gran Canaria)

In the Villa Mariana de Teror, the Pino Basilica keeps the great patron of Gran Canaria and the diocese of the Canary Islands; according to tradition, the Virgin appeared on the top of a pine on 8 September 1481.

Origin and history

Since the 15th century there has been a record of the arraigo of devotion to the Virgin of Pino as a spiritual reference of Gran Canaria, and the basilica of Teror was configured as the main Marian sanctuary of the island and the site of pilgrimages. Since the beginning of the 17th century, the "Bajadas de la Virgen del Pino" are documented to Las Palmas for begging; the first known, in March 1607, was to ask for rain.

The image was canonically crowned in 1905, and Pope Pius X declared it the main patron of the diocese of the Canary Islands on April 16, 1914. The tradition places the origin of the cult in a supernatural apparition of the Virgin on the top of a pine on 8 September 1481, with pastors as first witnesses; undocumented devotional account, which the diocese itself presents "according to tradition."