The Church of our lady of Rocio, El Rocio, Huelva, Andalucia, Spain. Festivals Spain.
The Church of our lady of Rocio, El Rocio, Huelva, Andalucia, Spain. The Church bell tower in the late afternoon sun. Andalucia is famous for its pilgrimages or "romerías" - so called because pilgrims traditionally walked to Rome, and therefore became known as "romeros" - to popular shrines, around which fiestas are held. The most spectacular is the one devoted to the Virgen del Rocío, popularly called "El Rocio" for short. Nearly a million people from all over Spain and Andalucia make the long journey to gather in a small hamlet of El Rocio in the marshlands of the Guadalquivir River delta (south of Almonte), where the statue of the "Madonna of the Dew" has been worshipped since 1280. The pilgrims come on horseback and in gaily decorated covered wagons from all over the region, transforming the area into a colourful and noisy party. The climax of the festival is the weekend before Pentercost Monday (28 May 2007, 12 May 2008, 1 June 2009, 24 May 2010). In the early hours of the Monday the Virgin is brought out of the church. the Ermita or Sanctuario de Nuestra Señora de El Rocío, its size completely at odds with a village the size of El Rocío, dominates the main dusty square. Destroyed in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, it was rebuilt in the 60s. Inside is the wooden figure of the revered Virgen del Rocío. Due to the insatiable demand to light candles in the church, you can only pay for electric 'candles' inside. But visit the small room at the lake side of the church if you want to light a wax candle; the ceiling and walls are stained black with smoke from the mulitude of candles lit here every year. A fan is on constantly to dispel the smoke, while industrial quantities of wax cake the candle the church are lots of souvenir shops selling pilgrimage-related paraphernalia. This is also the place to buy the latest fashions for the pilgrimage. These change yearly and the only way to ensure that your flamenco attire is at the cutting edge of the Rocío trend
Size: 4035px × 6208px
Location: El Rocio Huelva Andalucia Spain
Photo credit: © Michelle Chaplow / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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