Romeria - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A Romería in Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

or "Romaria" in Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

is a religious pilgrimage

Pilgrimage

A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...

. The word "Romería"/"Romaria" comes from "romero"/"romeiro", meaning those travelling towards Rome. It is a Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

celebration that consists of a trip or peregrination (in cars, floats, on horseback or on foot) that ends at a sanctuary

Sanctuary

A sanctuary is any place of safety. They may be categorized into human and non-human .- Religious sanctuary :A religious sanctuary can be a sacred place , or a consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar.- Sanctuary as a sacred place :#Sanctuary as a sacred place:#:In...

or hermitage

Hermitage (religious retreat)

Although today's meaning is usually a place where a hermit lives in seclusion from the world, hermitage was more commonly used to mean a settlement where a person or a group of people lived religiously, in seclusion.-Western Christian Tradition:...

. It is not necessarily always a trip, but in some cases a celebration that lasts all day long.

Background

One of the most famous examples of a romería is that of Nuestra Señora del Rocío

Romería de El Rocío

The Romería de El Rocío is a procession/pilgrimage on the second day of the Pentecost to the Hermitage of El Rocío in the countryside of Almonte, Province of Huelva, Andalusia, Spain, in honor of the Virgin of El Rocío...

, in which the faithful move to the Sanctuary of the Virgen del Rocío in the village of the Rocío, in Almonte

Almonte, Spain

-External links:* - Sistema de Información Multiterritorial de Andalucía* - Digital News for Almonte, El Rocío and Matalascañas...

, Huelva

Huelva (province)

Huelva is a province of southern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by Portugal, the provinces of Badajoz, Seville, and Cádiz, and the Atlantic Ocean. Its capital is Huelva....

. The Romeria of Sant John of the Mountain, celebrated in Miranda de Ebro

Miranda de Ebro

Miranda de Ebro is a city on the Ebro river in the province of Burgos in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is located in the north-eastern part of the province, on the border with the province of Álava and the autonomous community of La Rioja...

, is the second most important romeria in Spain

Spain

behind El Rocío with more of 25.000 romeros.

Another one of the most representative examples is the Romería of the Virgen de la Cabeza (Andújar

Andújar

Andújar is a Spanish municipality of 38,539 people in the province of Jaén, in Andalusia. The municipality is divided by the Guadalquivir River. The northern part of the municipality is where the Natural Park of the Sierra de Andújar is situated. To the south are agricultural fields and...

, Jaén), which is considered the oldest Romería of Spain, and consists of the displacement of the travellers coming from all over the country to the Sanctuary of the Virgen de la Cabeza, through 33 km of Andújar, in the heart of Sierra de Andujar natural park. This celebration is held the last Sunday of April, and is considered of national tourist interest.

The Romería of the Virgin of Navahonda, celebrated in spring in the Madrilenian

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

municipality of Robledo de Chavela is representative of this tradition.

There are Romerias also in The Canary Islands. An example is La Romeria de Santiago Apostol, en Gáldar.

The New World

Another representative example, in Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, is the Romería of the Our Lady of Zapopan

Basilica of Our Lady of Zapopan

The Basilica of Our Lady of Zapopan and the abbey of Our Lady of Expectation of Zapopan are a Franciscan sanctuary built in the heart of Zapopan in the state of Jalisco, México. The church belongs to the Franciscan province of Sts...

, which this considered the third most important peregrination in the country, after the one of the Virgin of Guadalupe

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Our Lady of Guadalupe , also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe is a celebrated Catholic icon of the Virgin Mary.According to tradition, on December 9, 1531 Juan Diego, a simple indigenous peasant, had a vision of a young woman while he was on a hill in the Tepeyac desert, near Mexico City. The lady...

, and the Virgin of San Juan of the Lakes. The Romería of the Virgin of Zapopan consists of a route 8 km in length, from the metropolitan Guadalajara Cathedral

Guadalajara Cathedral

The Guadalajara Cathedral or Cathedral of the Assumption of Our Lady , located in Guadalajara, Jalisco, is the Roman Catholic cathedral of the Archdiocese of Guadalajara and a minor basilica. It is built in the Renaissance style, with neo-gothic towers....

, to the Basilica of Our Lady of Zapopan

Basilica of Our Lady of Zapopan

. It is made every 12th of October, and figure of the virgin goes accompanied by more than 3,000,000 people.

In Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....

, it is traditional to make a romería to Cartago on August 2nd to make requests and give thanks to the Virgin Mary black statue, locally nicknamed La Negrita, located inside the cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

. People all over the country and even other Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

n countries attend to it by foot or horse. On 2009, due to AH1N1 spreading risks it was officially cancelled, but the statue was taken on a tour to cities instead.

External links

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