Virgin of Lomos de Orios

Serrano Sanctuary of Transhumancia · Villoslada de Cameros (La Rioja)

At 1,415 metres, in the Sierra de Cebollera, the Lomos de Orios hermitage has a Romanesque size venerated by the transhuman pastors, whose "Charity" each year gives bread and lamb in fulfilment of an old promise.

Origin and history

The present hermitage is a baroque building of the 17th century, with a house of an aneja santero, which preserves a Romanesque size of the Virgin, dated in the 14th century, in the heart of Sierra de Cebollera, between summits that exceed 2,000 meters. Devotion has been linked since ancient times to Cameroonian transhumanism and the protection of cattle.

Its most characteristic feature is the double rostrum of Charity: the "Small Charity" or the Torreznos, the Sunday following Easter, and the "Great Charity" or the Corderas, the first Sunday of July, in which bread and lamb meat are distributed to all attendees. The tradition places its origin in 1520, when pastors threatened by bandits were entrusted to the Virgin and, in fulfilment of the promise, the distribution is maintained; it is preserved as a pious tradition.

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