Our Lady of the Angels of El Puig

Patroness of the Kingdom of Valencia · El Puig

In the Royal Monastery of El Puig venerates Santa María del Puig, a Byzantine relief in stone that Jaime I proclaimed Patrona of the Kingdom of Valencia after the conquest of 1237, entrusting his custody to the Order of the Market.

Origin and history

In the context of the conquest of Valencia, the troops of James I were in the Puig in 1237; there was a relief of Byzantine-style stone from the Mother of God, which became a sign of support for the Christian hosts. Attributed to his intercession the victory and take of Valencia, the king proclaimed it Patroness of the kingdom and ordered to raise the sanctuary, the first parish entrusted to the Order of the Merced (1245), received by St Peter Nolasco.

The tradition tells that, a year earlier, St Peter Nolasco saw seven stars fall over the Puig for seven days and found the image excavating "under a bell"; the account of the seven stars is transmitted as legend. The image was canonically crowned on October 9, 1954, and the Royal Monastery remains a great center of Valencian pilgrimage.