The Romería de las Manzanedas

I look forward to this festival every year. The Romeria de las Manzanedas. There is something so authentic and romantic about it, starting with the setting.  

It takes place in a field down a dirt path heading out a tiny village, Mazaneda de Torio, where seaming in the middle of nowhere appears a relatively small but impressive chapel, the Sanctuary of The Virgin of Manzaneda. What is such a church doing here hidden away halfway into the mountains, outside a tiny village, and on road that today goes absolutely nowhere.

The story goes that the Virgin Mary appeared here to a shepherd sometime in the MIddle Ages. Maybe in the tenth century? I really have no idea. I can’t find a good source on that on that. Interestingly though, a fountain sits outside the church, decorated with a stone statue of the Virgin of Manzanares.. I wonder if it is somehow related to the vision, as in the case of other Marian sites such as Lourdes, where the Virgin Mary revealed a water source, often with miraculous powers. It could just be a fountain established like so many other fountains in rural Spain, and being next to the church was adorned with a statue of Mary. Or it could be a fountain revealed By the Virgin Mary in the vision.  

Definitely true, though, is that the village of Ruiforco, just a couple of kilometers from Manzanares de Torio  was founded in the tenth century under the reign of Alfonso II as part of the reconquest of northwest Spain from the Umayyad Caliphate that had swept through and taken over most of the peninsula in the eight century. At that timea monastery was built there, too. The monastery is long gone but the chapel remains. A papal bull from the 14th century revived devotion to the Virgin of Manzanares and led ot the building of the present church, though it was further modified over the centuries, including having a beautiful baroque altar piece installed (very typical throughout Europe). 

Devotion to the romeria, and to some extent the Virgin of Manzanares remains strong. This Virgin is the patroness of the fifteen villages nearby, and they celebrate her feast day every year on the first Monday after the September 15. That’s when the romeria takes place. 

What is a romería? Well, simply a local group pilgrimage of sorts, in which all those under the patronage of a certain saint or virgin connected to a local church go out meet at the church for prayers and a party. The day starts with a church service, the Catholic Mass, and then. Of course, a procession with the statue. Then there’s feasting–food, music, games until dark. 

Even if, in our secular age, most of the people coming out have far less religious devotion than their ancestors, they are still devoted to their communities and the feast still serves as a way to build a community. Is the Virgin watching over us still? I think so.