Our Lady of the Llanos

Patrona de Albacete · Spain

Santa María de los Llanos is the heart of the faith of Albacete: found according to tradition in the area of Los Llanos, it presides over the cathedral and brings together the whole city around its September Fair.

Origin and history

The popular tradition tells that a farmer found the image buried in the area of "Los Llanos," on the outskirts of the city, finding that devotion places around the 15th century. The first known graphic representation of the Virgin dates from 1690, the first documentary support of her iconography.

The devotion was consolidated throughout the Modern Age: in 1632 she was proclaimed patron of the village of Albacete and in 1956 patron of the diocese and province. Today the image is venerated in the cathedral of San Juan Bautista, and every September its feast - together with the famous Albacete Fair - congregates to crowds; on the 7th a replica is moved from the City Council to the cathedral.