Our Lady of Tiscar

The "Covadonga Andaluza" · Quesada (Jaén)

At the foot of the Black Peña, in the heart of the Cazorla saw, the Virgin of Tiscar is venerated as Mother of the Sierra and patron of Quesada. His sanctuary, next to the legendary Cueva del Agua, has been one of the great pilgrimage centers of Andalusia for centuries.

Origin and history

According to the pious tradition, devotion goes back to a very ancient age. A legendary account places 1319in the surroundings of the Cueva del Agua and the castle of Tícar, the relationship of the Virgin with Quesada: before the refusal of the Muslim reyezuelo of the fortress to accept the image, it would have been thrown and destroyed, and then reclaimed and venerated by Christians, first in the Cueva del Agua itself and then in a sanctuary raised in its honor.

Historically, after the Christian conquest and the organization of the advance of Cazorla, a first hermitage was raised to welcome the rosemary, probably at the end of the 13th or early 14th century. The medieval sanctuary, of Gothic style with Mudejar elements, was rebuilt between the 17th and 18th centuries, and the present temple was consolidated in the mid-20th century on the remains of that hermitage. Known as the "Covadonga Andaluza" and "Mother of the Sierra," his devotion radiates throughout the region of Guadalquivir.

The story of the year 1319 and the Cave of Water belongs to the legendary tradition. The canonical coronation of the image is not certain in the general sources consulted.