Marian devotion
Our Lady of the Ermites
The Cake (Ourense)
In the Bibei valley, in O Bolo, the great Baroque sanctuary of Our Lady of the Ermites is one of the main areas of Marian piety in the southeast Galician and the diocese of Astorga.
Origin and history
The tradition places the origin in the finding of an image of the Virgin with the Child by pastors, in the 13th century, in a cave of the place, where the cattle showed a strange behavior; legendary account. Before the great sanctuary there was a small chapel of likely medieval origin.
The construction of the Baroque sanctuary began around 1624, promoted by the Bishop of Astorga Alonso Meia of Tovar, in thanksgiving for a healing attributed to the Virgin during a pastoral visit. The whole was extended in later decades; its facade, attributed to Juan Martínez Pita, rose between 1713 and 1726, and is a sign of the Galician baroque. It has been a good cultural interest since 2006.
Formal patronage and canonical coronation: no record.
Is the advocation of the Virgin Mary of your people missing?
Si no encuentras la advocación mariana de tu ciudad o pueblo, cuéntanosla: la investigaremos para ubicarla y darla a conocer en este mapa del amor de la Madre por el mundo.
Propose an apvocation →