Our Lady of the Rosary "La Galeona"

Patroness of Cadiz and the Indian Fleet

In the convent of Santo Domingo de Cadiz, "La Galeona," patron of the city and former protector of the Galeones Fleet, which joined Cadiz with America, venerates Our Lady of the Rosary.

Origin and history

The devotion to the Rosary has been rooted in Cadiz since the end of the 16th century. "La Galeona" was a patron and protector of the Galeones Fleet: the first documented news of its shipment dates from March 19, 1602, when the general of the Galeons asked to carry the image on his journey to the Indias, with the obligation to return it on return. Tradition links this naval patronage to the victory of Lepanto (1571).

After invoking it during the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, the City Council named it Patrona and Protector of the city, patronage ratified by the bull of Pius IX in 1867. The historical image was burned in 1931; the heads of the Virgin and the Child survived, and it was rebuilt in 1945 by Juan Luis Vassallo and preserved in his interior the body burned "in the form of a sicon." It was canonically crowned on 4 May 1947.