Santa Maria de la Victoria

Patrona de Málaga

Patrona de Málaga and its diocese, Santa María de la Victoria is linked from its origin to the conquest of the city by the Catholic Kings in 1487. It is the only Malagasy Marian image with pontifical coronation.

Origin and history

The cult was born linked to the conquest of Malaga by the Catholic Kings in 1487: after the long siege and the taking of the city, the image was associated with the triumph and received the title of "Victory." The tradition - collected as a legend by the diocese - tells that King Fernando dreamed of Saint Francis of Paula announcing his victory. The monarchs ordered to raise a hermitage in the place of the royal camp, origin of the convent and the present sanctuary, governed by the Order of Minimos ("vitories").

Since 1487, he was declared the principal patron of the diocese by Pius IX in 1867 and received the pontifical coronation on February 8, 1943. Among its attributes are the crown, the scepter and the little bird that holds the Child, a symbol of the resurrection.