Virgin of Guadalupe

The Virgin Mary is supposed to have appeared to a humble herder in this vicinity in 1300 and to have indicated where he should dig to unearth her image. When the pastor arrived home, he discovered his son had died, so he immediately invoked the aid of the Virgin and the boy revived. He and his friends dug where she had indicated and discovered the famous black image in a cave. They then built a small sanctuary for her on the spot. In the 14th century, Alfonso XI had a Hieronymite monastery built there after his victory over the Moors at the Battle of Salado, which he attributed to the Virgin of Guadalupe. The monastery has been a popular pilgrimage destination ever since, and the Virgin of Guadalupe has come to be one of the most important religious figures in Spain and Spanish America. Columbus named one of the islands in the Caribbean (now French) after her because he had signed the agreement authorizing his expedition in Guadalupe. When he returned from his voyage with six American Indians, they were baptized here. A short time later, the Virgin appeared again, in Mexico, to a peasant and she became the patron saint of Mexico.