Virgin of Peace

Patrona de Trujillo · the highest Marian monument in America (Venezuela)

Since 1568, the Virgin of Peace today presides over the state from a concrete colossus of almost 47 meters - the highest living Marian image in America -, raised in the Peña de la Virgen.

Origin and history

Since the 16th century, it has been venerated in Trujillo to Our Lady of Peace, declared spiritual patron of the city and territory in 1568, and patron of the diocese in 1960. The Peña de la Virgen, where today the monument is raised, is a place of ancient devotion; there are several popular traditions that place an apparition of the Virgin around 1570, presented by the sources themselves as legend.

The Monument to the Virgin of Peace, the work of the Spanish-Venezuelan sculptor Manuel de la Fuente, was opened on December 21, 1983. With 46.72 meters high and about 1,200 tons, it is one of the highest Marian statues in the world and the highest living image in America, with five interior viewpoints that dominate much of the Trujillo state. The tradition of going up to Peña "to pay promises" is well before the monument.

The legends of apparition (h. 1570) are pious, undocumented tradition; there is no canonical coronation.