Rocio Pilgrimage Huelva, Andalucia, Spain. Pilgrims travelling on foot and horse back to El Rocio
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. Perhaps 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 (16 May 2005, 5 June 2006, 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. Text with permission from
Size: 6184px × 4003px
Location: The pilgrimage to Rocio, Huelva province, Andalucia, Spain.
Photo credit: © Michelle Chaplow / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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