Our Lady of Cabeza (Spanish:
Nuestra Señora de la Cabeza, La Santísima Virgen de la Cabeza, Virgen de la
Cabeza, Nuestra Señora la Virgen de la Cabeza), is a Marian apparition whose
cult is centered at the Basilica of Nuestra Señora de la Cabeza, located in the
Natural Park of the Sierra of Andújar, 32 km north of the city of Andújar,
Spain. A Black Madonna, she is
known popularly as La Morenita (“The Dark Lady”)
She is one of the patron saints of Andújar (the
other is Saint Euphrasius) and the diocese of Jaén. Her name refers to the
Cerro del Cabezo ridge where she is said
to have appeared. She was declared patroness of Andújar by Pope Pius X on March
18, 1909 and of the Diocese of Jaén by Pope John XXIII on November 27, 1959.
The
pilgrimage is celebrated on the last Sunday of April. This celebration has its
origins in the 13th century, and some half a million people gather to see the
Virgin paraded among the forests for over 30 kilometres.
Regarding
its popular customs, there is the pilgrimage in honor of the Virgen de la
Cabeza, patron saint of the city and of the diocese of Jaen, which has its
sanctuary 32 kilometres from the city and where more than five hundred thousand
people congregate during the last weekend of April.
Calderón de
la Barca and Miguel de Cervantes talk about it in some of their books and it is
verified that it is the first pilgrimage of which there is known proven
information that it has been celebrated since before recorded history in Spain.
