Virgin of the Sierra

Patrona de Villarrubia de los Ojos (Ciudad Real) · Sanctuary of the Sierra

In a sanctuary located in the saw, twelve kilometres from the village, it venerates the Virgin of the Sierra, patrona de Villarrubia de los Ojos and other manchegan and Andalusian villas. It is one of the canonically crowned Spanish roots.

Main data

History and origin

The tradition attributes its origin to an old Visigode village and refers that, in the 6th century, Pope Gregory I would have donated the image, then hidden towards the year 711 with the arrival of the Arabs. The primitive size - a sedent image in the old way Theotokos- was burned in the Civil War: only the hands of the Virgin and the head of the Child were recovered, and 1941 The current replica was performed. These remote origins belong to the realm of pious tradition.

A patronazgo compartido

The Virgin of the Sierra is patron of Villarrubia de los Ojos, Moral de Calatrava (Ciudad Real) and Cabra (Córdoba), in addition to eighteen villas linked to the Order of St. John of Jerusalem: a shared patronage that speaks of the historical extension of his devotion.

Festivals and Romeries

La festividad es el September 8, Nativity of the Virgin, with the major parties from 8 to 12. Two Romeries are held at the sanctuary - on the Monday of Resurrection and on the third Sunday of May (the latter since 1968) -; at the end of August the image of the people is reduced, and on the third Sunday of November it is returned to its sanctuary of the saw.

Favors and popular devotion

Villarrubia and the sister villas entrust the Virgin of the Sierra with her needs and thank her for her favors kept in the memory of her peoples, without this being a formal ecclesiastical statement.

Mary, Mother of the People

In the Virgin of the Sierra, several villas recognize the same Mother. She goes with him. Holy Rosarywith whom Mary always leads us to her Son.