Our Lady of Health

Patrona de Castro del Río (Córdoba)

Patrona and Mayor Perpetua of Castro del Río, Our Lady of Health was born as a devotion of thanksgiving to the eyelashes, in an ancient hermitage previously dedicated to San Roque.

Origin and history

The tradition places the finding of a Marian image in the last quarter of the 16th century, on a lot of stones on the way to Cañete; in its honor was erected a hermitage, first known as San Roque, very linked to protection against the plague. The construction of this hermitage in the 1580s, linked to the 1582-1583 epidemic, is documented.

In the early 17th century an image of the Virgin was placed, venerated under the title of Health in response to the grave epidemic of 1601. The arraigo grew markedly between 1625 and 1650, and in 1750 she was proclaimed patron of Castro del Rio. The original image was destroyed in the Civil War; the present one is the work of the imaginary Amadeo Ruiz Olmos (1941).

It consists of the title "Coronado" and a decree of coronation published in 1990, but the year and canonical nature are not clearly recorded in official sources.