Our Lady of the Moon

The shared Virgin of Los Pedroches · Córdoba

In the heart of the Los Pedroches pastureland, the Virgin of Luna is the shared patron saint of Pozoblanco and Villanueva de Córdoba, two towns that alternate in guarding her image according to a secular calendar.

Origin and history

Tradition holds that the image was found by a shepherd in the early 15th century in an oak tree near the site of the present-day sanctuary, and that the neighboring villages agreed to share the responsibility of caring for it. The hermitage itself dates from the mid-15th century.

The veneration of the image is documented at least since the late 16th century, when lengthy legal disputes began between Pozoblanco and Villanueva de Córdoba over the rights to the image and the sanctuary; rulings in 1590, confirmed in 1683 and 1685, regulated the division of ownership. Today, the image is moved in cycles—more than three months in Pozoblanco, and another three in Villanueva—in pilgrimages recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Andalusia. It has been canonically crowned.

The year of the canonical coronation is not confirmed by the sources consulted.