Pilgrims Arriving At The Church In El Rocio, Spain Editorial Photo

The Romería de El Rocío is a procession or 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 recent years the Romería has brought together roughly a million pilgrims each year. The romería as such begins on Saturday before Pentecost. However, pilgrims come from throughout Andalusia, Spain, and typically travel an additional one to seven days beforehand, either on foot, on horseback or in horse-drawn carriages. Many count this travel as the most important part of the pilgrimage. The pilgrims travel in groups, religious confraternities. Centre of the Pentecost celebrations, the church of Nuestra Senora, senjora, del Rocio [our lady of the dew, is despite its Baroque appearance, built in the 1960s. It holds the venerated image of the Virgin del Rocio, a thirteenth-century work in carved wood [also cold Blanca Paloma, the white Dove]. On this picture the brotherhood of Sanlucar de Barrameda arrives in El Rocio and the pilgrims - together with their lavishly decorated ox-cart - passing the famous church.