Virgin Bella Pilgrimage

This pilgrimage takes place on the second weekend of May. It´s a typical style festival from Andalucía, where neighbors dress with typical dresses and ride horses and horse carts. The event starts from the first Saturday of May with the banner transfer, by horsemen, from Virgin Bella Hermitage, near El Terron port, to Santo Domingo Church, in Lepe. Next Friday, after a round of fireworks, a massive floral offering takes place during the afternoon, in which thousands pilgrims come dressed with the traditional costume, to provide the virgin their offering. Next day, Saturday afternoon, people from Lepe carry´s the Virgin to El Terrón in her silver shrine pulled by oxes from the village to her hermitage, where she remain until Monday afternoon. Pilgrims accompany´s Virgin on foot, on horseback or in carriages the whole way, which is an explosion of joy, dances, prayer, promises, songs...

Around the monastery´s old ruins, a rural village has been built, full of tipycal houses and particular homes that are popular building models. At this environment, more than one hundred thousand people come together, on that days. Until following Monday the time goes by a coexistence atmosphere between neighbors and outsiders, always enlivened by songs and dances, visits and displays of affection to Bella´s Virgin. Enclosure is filled by colors and joy, the color from women dressed.

Parallel to the party, held religious ceremonies, such as Virgin´s ensign auction when Virgin arrive to the hermitage or the rosary with torches on Sunday night, immediately after a colorful fireworks takes place. On Monday afternoon the Virgin Bella is taken back home to Santo Domingo church, where Bella´s virgin comes around midnight on her believers´ shoulders while they scream “VIVA!”, “OLÉ!”, and Virgin stays there until next year.

Small pilgrimage

Following weekend, pilgrims transfers back the banner to the hermitage which was at the village´s church during the pilgrimage. It will be guarded until next pilgrimage start, next year. That day is know as small pilgrimage, on third Saturday of May.