Mary Most Holy of the Head of Priego de Córdoba

Advocación mariana de Priego de Córdoba (Andalucía)
✔ Recognized by the Church

Our Lady of the Head is one of the most beloved Marian devotions in Priego de Córdoba (Córdoba). Her confraternity was founded in 1573, based at the hermitage of San Sebastián, later dedicated to Our Lady of the Head. Re-established in 1976, it has organized the pilgrimage to Sierra Cristina since 1977, where her hermitage was erected in 1992. (The patron saint and official patroness of the city is the Immaculate Conception.)

Main data

Origin and history

Our Lady of the Head is one of the most beloved Marian devotions in Priego de Córdoba (Córdoba). Her confraternity was founded in 1573, based at the hermitage of San Sebastián, later dedicated to Our Lady of the Head. Re-established in 1976, it has organized the pilgrimage to Sierra Cristina since 1977, where her hermitage was erected in 1992. (The patron saint and official patroness of the city is the Immaculate Conception.)

The image and the sanctuary

It is venerated in its hermitage in Sierra Cristina, the destination of the Priego pilgrimage, and in Priego de Córdoba.

Patronage and coronation

Marian devotion in Priego de Córdoba, with its own brotherhood; she is not the titular patron saint of the city, an honor that belongs to the Immaculate Conception.

Celebration and devotion

Their pilgrimage takes place on the third weekend of June, carrying the image to Sierra Cristina. Devotion to the Virgin is a defining characteristic of the town.

Link with the Rosary

A branch of the great Jaén devotion of the Virgin of the Head, Priego takes its Virgin up the mountain; the Rosary is that same ascent of the heart, uphill, until the encounter with the Mother.