Our Lady of Vallivana

The patron saint of Sexenni · Morella (Castellón)

Patrona de Morella, Our Lady of Vallivana is the protagonist of the Sexenni: every six years her image rises in Romeria to the city, in memory of the plague that expired in the 17th century.

Origin and history

The tradition links the origin of the image to the passage of the Apostle James through the Vallivana ravine, a Jacobeo account of legendary character. The venerated image is a Gothic size of cooked land, about 25-29 cm, dating from the late 14th and early 15th century, covered today by Baroque dresses.

In 1672 Morella suffered a serious epidemic; in thanksgiving for the intercession of the Virgin it was decided in 1673 to celebrate a ninth every six years, the origin of the Sexal Festivities. She was canonically crowned on August 28, 1910 and declared a canonical patron of Morella in 1952. Its own seal is the sexial begging, with thousands of rosemary.