Santa María la Real de Ujué

Marian Invocation of Ujué (Navarre)

Santa María la Real de Ujué is venerated on the top of a hill that dominates the middle area of Navarra. The town of Ujué arose in the late eighth or early ninth century around a fortress, advanced position of defense of the kingdom of Pamplona against Islam. The tradition links the origin of devotion to the miraculous finding of the image: a dove would have led a peasant to the cave where the size had been hidden to save her from the Muslim invasion. This account of the finding is transmitted as a pious tradition and not as a documented fact.

Main data

Origin and history

Santa María la Real de Ujué is venerated on the top of a hill that dominates the middle area of Navarra. The town of Ujué arose in the late eighth or early ninth century around a fortress, advanced position of defense of the kingdom of Pamplona against Islam. The tradition links the origin of devotion to the miraculous finding of the image: a dove would have led a peasant to the cave where the size had been hidden to save her from the Muslim invasion. This account of the finding is transmitted as a pious tradition and not as a documented fact.

The image and the sanctuary

The image of St. Mary of Ujué is a Roman size of polychrome wood from the 12th century, which represents the Sitting Virgin with the Sitting Child Jesus. It is venerated in the church - the fortress of Santa Maria de Ujué, a set built between the 12th and 14th centuries with Romanesque and Gothic elements, which unites the Marian sanctuary and the medieval fortress. It was declared a national monument on June 26, 1936.

Sponsorship and coronation

The Virgin of Ujué is one of the most devoted images of Navarra. Today she is considered a patron of the Ribera de Navarra. His canonical coronation was held on 8 September 1952, in a place outside the village.

Party and devotion

Ujué is one of the great rosemary centers of Navarra: every year, thousands of rosemary of many villages walk, walking miles from their localities to the sanctuary, in one of the most vivid manifestations of popular piety in the region. The Romeries are especially concentrated around the spring, after Easter, according to the custom of each people.

Link to the Rosary

The sources consulted do not reflect a specific link of this advocation to the Rosary, so it is noted as not recorded. However, the prayer of the Rosary traditionally accompanies the long way of the rosemary who go up on foot to Ujué.