Virgin of the Valley

Patrona de Saldaña (Palencia) · Perpetual mayor

In the Vega del Carrión, the Virgin of the Valley es la patrona de Saldaña and its palentine region, venerated in a sanctuary surrounded by prairie. Named "perpetual mayor" of the villa, it was canonically crowned in 1930.

Main data

History and tradition

Tradition brings devotion back to a very ancient age - it places it around 754 - and links it to the king Alfonso I: According to the story transmitted from generation to generation, the monarch carried the image on the arches of his horse and, after conquering a castle with the help he attributed to the Virgin, he enthroned it and ordered it to build its hermitage. As with many foundational traditions, these origins belong to the realm of pious legend rather than to documented chronicle.

The festival and the pilgrimage

The holiday is held on September 8. In August the image is moved to the church of Saldaña, where a novena is prayed; on 6 September it is made a floral offering, and on the eve of the party it runs the streets in an emotional night procession with torches. The parties are declared of regional tourist interest by the Junta de Castilla y León.

The canonical coronation

The Virgin of the Valley was canonically crowned the 8 September 1930with the assistance of the Apostolic Nuncio and ecclesiastical and civil authorities.

Favors and popular devotion

Saldaña entrusts to her employer sorrows and joys, and thanks her for her favors that the memory of the region bears with gratitude, without this being a formal ecclesiastical statement.

Mary, Lady of the Valley

In the advocation of the Valley, the palentine land honors the Mother who watches over her fields and her people. She goes with him. Holy Rosarywith which the Virgin always leads us to her Son.