Our Lady of Guadalupe (Rianxo)

"A Moreniña" · Rianxo (A Coruña)

Rianxo's patron and protector of the people of the sea, Our Lady of Guadalupe - "A Moreniña" - is the most popular Black Virgin of Galicia, famous for its maritime procession by the river of Arousa al son of "A Rianxeira."

Origin and history

The chapel, in the Gothic style of a sailor, was built in 1671 on an earlier temple. The current image is a replica in cardboard stone of the Virgin of Guadalupe of Extremadura, made by the monk rianxeiro fray Xosé of Santiago and arrived in Rianxo in 1773; since 1854 it has been venerated in the chapel. The Guadalupana devotion in the area is older (references since the 17th century).

The great devotional impulse came in 1854, when the cholera epidemic barely affected Rianxo, attributed to the protection of the Virgin. She is a Black Virgin, "A Moreniña," the most popular in Galicia. Its most characteristic feature is the maritime procession: the image is embarked on a sailboat covered by the river of Arousa, accompanied by a fleet and the song of "A Rianxeira."

Canonical coronation: not recorded.