Virgin of the Mount

Patrona de Bolaños de Calatrava (Ciudad Real) · Sanctuary of the Mount

In the area of the ancient Dehesa de la Moheda, linked to the Order of Calatrava, it venerates the Virgin of the Mount, patrona de Bolaños de Calatrava. Its pilgrimage brings together more than twenty thousand people each spring; it was canonically crowned in 1966.

Main data

History and origin

Devotion is linked to the Order of Calatrava after the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212). The primitive size was of Romanesque origin; the current size is baroque. On August 9, 1936, during the Civil War, the image was desecrated: the head, hands and Child Jesus were recovered, and with those remains the image was removed after the contest.

The Legend of the Pastor

It tells the oral tradition that the Virgin appeared to a pasture, one afternoon in April, under an oak, "touched with a funny pastoral hat," telling her that she was "the shepherd of the people of God". That's why the pastoral hat has become its symbol. Like every founding tradition, this story belongs to the realm of popular piety.

The Pilgrimage and the Festivals

La Romeria de la Virgen del Monte is held on the last Sunday of April and brings together between 20,000 and 25,000 pilgrimage over three days, with events such as the auction of the "state." The image is brought to the village on the first Sunday of September and fired on the first Sunday after the Epiphany; the night of September 15 solemnly processes. In 2015- 2016 Pope Francis granted a Jubilee Year for the 50th anniversary of the coronation.

The canonical coronation

It was canonically crowned the 22 May 1966 in the square of the City Hall, by the nuncio Monsignor Antonio Riberi in representation of Paul VI, with the participation of Bishop Juan Hervás and Benet.

Favors and popular devotion

Bolaños entrusts his "pastor" to the needs of the people and the countryside, and thanks him for the favors kept in the memory of the villa, without this being a formal ecclesiastical declaration.

Mary, Pastor of the People of God

The image of the Virgin as a shepherd expresses her maternal care over the flock of the Church. She goes with him. Holy Rosarywith whom Mary always leads us to her Son.