Visit the Sanctuary of the Bien Aparecida

Do you feel like visit Cantabria or are you planning a trip to Spain? Are you very Catholic and do you like virgins and their sanctuaries a lot? So I tell you that here in Spain, in the Cantabria region, this sanctuary that you see in the photo is hidden: the Sanctuary of the Virgen de la Bien Aparecida.

Cantabria is a beautiful land, between the Basque Country, Asturias, the Cantabrian Sea and Castilla y León, so you can well organize a tour of the best of this area that includes a little walk through the religious sanctuary.

The Virgin of the Bien Aparecida

Religious shrines are often built in honor of the apparitions of virgins and saints and in this case it is the appearance of a small image of the Virgin in 1605 in front of a group of shepherd children. The image of around 20 centimeters only appeared in the window of a hermitage that at that time was in the Alto de Marrón, dedicated to San Marcos. Later it was decided to build a better shelter for the Virgin.

Today the figure is a size 21 centimeters with pedestal included and a soft varnish that covers it. It must be the smallest of all the religious images in Spain. Behind it is flat and in front it is cheated. Her mantle is barely gathered by the Virgin in her right hand and the dress is golden with some blue. El Niño, for his part, is dressed in a matte color.

The truth is that no one knows the author of the carving or the date it was made exactly although it is not older than the fifteenth century. Luckily the passage of time has not made a dent and it is beautiful. The image of the Virgin was adopted by the Cantabrians (usually called mountaineers), as their patron saint, first unofficially, and then officially towards the second half of the eighteenth century.

His holiday is September 15 and of course thousands of people come to the sanctuary.

Visit the Sanctuary of the Virgen de la Bien Aparecida

The Sanctuary is a Renaissance and Baroque style construction It was built in the seventeenth century although it was completed at the beginning of the following century. Is a simple church and quite austere, with a single nave and a plant in the shape of a Latin cross. The church has a nave divided into three vaulted sections with a star-shaped ribbing with gothic-style warps and terceletes. The façade has a highlighted portico and the door has a semicircular arch. It is finished off by a cusp with the cross.

On the other hand, elegant altarpieces for which it is known date from this century as well and are the prized asset of the sanctuary: it is about Churrigueresque altarpieces and it is the most complete set in the entire region. They were made by the teachers of the Siete Villas workshop.

The main altarpiece dates from 1734 and bears the signature of Raimundo Mayor, that of the Epistle is dedicated to Saint Joseph and that of the Gospel nave to Saint Gertrude. And it is in the central street of the main altarpiece that the Gothic carving of the Virgen de la Bien Aparecida is found.

How do you get to the sanctuary? First the sanctuary is in the town of Hoz de Marrón, a small town that in 2008 barely had 62 inhabitants. If you are in Santander, the capital of Cantabria, you should go to Ampuero, a small municipality that is only 55 kilometers from the city and just four kilometers from the Sanctuary. It is easy to get there from the town of Ampuero because you take the Udalla road and there you will see at one point a detour that takes you right to the church.

The traditional thing is to reach the sanctuary by walking the 15 steps that represent the Passion of Christ, although the stretch is fifteen kilometers and up. Once in the church of course there is mass and pilgrimage, on the holiday, of course, and in addition to a colorful market that has been declared a Festival of Regional Tourist Interest. The area is beautiful so that's why I told you at the beginning that you should organize a walk or excursion around.

If you are not very religious and this of the sanctuaries and the parties and markets related, you can change the view of the visit and make a historical - sociological observation. The truth is that centuries ago this of the apparitions of virgins and saints or possessing a relic (read bone or part of a saint), served as an excuse to build a sanctuary, organize parties, markets and pilgrimages that attracted people and for hence they will leave money. For many communities it was a big business, beyond the purely religious aspect.

And if you only like nature then you have to remember that Cantabria is a beautiful region really and that here you can practice turismo rural staying in great places, eating a very tasty gastronomy and resting, resting and resting.


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