Our Lady of Brokes

The Virgin of the Alentejan field · Mora (Evora)

In the village of Brotas, in the heart of Alentejo, a rural sanctuary venerates a Virgin called as a protector of the countryside and of the animals, in one of the most loved pilgrimage centers in the region since the 15th century.

Origin and history

The devotion dates back, according to the documentation collected by Frei Agostinho of Santa Maria in the "Santuário Mariano," to the first half of the 15th century. At the end of that century, a sanctuary was erected which soon became a great pilgrimage centre, surrounded by houses for rosemary, and devotion spread through Portugal.

The popular tradition tells the origin of the cult with a miracle: a shepherd led to pasture his cow, which fell into a ravine and died; after the Virgin was entrusted, Mary appeared to him, who promised him the resurrection of the animal and asked him to build a chapel. On returning to the neighbors, the cow pasted alive, and from the cut leg had emerged a small image of the Virgin, of bone. These elements belong to legendary piety, deeply rooted in the memory of the place.