Virgin of the Rock

Marian monument of Mount Samson · Baiona (Pontevedra)

On Mount Sansón, overlooking the bay of Baiona and the Cíes Islands, stands the colossal Virgin of the Rock, a work by Antonio Palacios: a fifteen-meter image that holds a lookout boat and serves as a spiritual beacon for sailors.

Origin and history

The Virgin of the Rock originated as a grand Marian monumental project of the early 20th century, funded by public subscription and designed by the Galician architect Antonio Palacios. The foundation stone was laid in 1910 and the monument was inaugurated in 1930. The statue measures approximately fifteen meters, is made of granite with a white marble face and hands, and holds in its right hand a boat-shaped viewing platform accessible by an interior staircase.

Designed to protect and guide sailors, like a spiritual beacon, it overlooks the Bay of Baiona and the Cíes Islands. A park with a Stations of the Cross was created next to the monument for pilgrimages. It is one of the great Marian images protecting the Galician sea, more of an emblematic monument than a liturgical sanctuary.

Formal patronage and canonical coronation: not found in the sources.