The Shrine of Nuestra Señora de los Santos in Andalusia, Spain
by Amy Whitehead
El Sanctuario de Nuestra Señora de los Santos, or the ‘Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Saints’ sits on the outskirts of the village of Alcala de los Gazules in Andalusia, Spain. It is also known as the shrine of the Virgin of Alcala de los Gazules, and it is popular for a number of reasons, primarily because it houses the widely known and particularly milagrosa (miracle working) statue of the Virgin of Alcala. It is also, however, famous for housing one of the most impressive collections of ex voto offerings in Spain. Quite unlike collections found in a museum, this is a ‘living collection’. In fact the shrine site, as a whole, is dynamic in that there are traditions to carry out, and a range of everyday rituals that can be performed at a number of points throughout the shrine. These traditions are reflected through myriad forms of material objects, which, by virtue of their presence, can be read as visual testimony to the Virgin’s popularity and power.
Site History and Description
The village of Alcala de los Gazules is roughly 60 km inland from the coastal city of Cadiz in the south of Spain and forms one of the medieval villages on la ruta de los pueblos blancos (the route of the white villages). The village, now more like a town due to a small growth in population, is famous for its excellent examples of neoclassical and baroque architecture and has been granted the status of ‘Historic-Artistic’, which means that it is legally protected as one of Spain’s ‘cultural goods’.
Figure 1. Alcala de los Gazules.
The shrine of the Virgin, however, is not located in the village. It is roughly five km from the village. It should be noted that although many villagers choose to have their weddings, funerals, and baptisms for their children at the shrine, the shrine is not a church. The church, Iglesia de San Francisco (also known as ‘Iglesia de la Victoria’), sits inside the village, forms part of a convent, and serves the traditional function of a Spanish Catholic church. The shrine of the Virgin of Alcala is something quite different. It has its own unique history, the trajectories from which form part of its unique present.
Devotional practices have been taking place at the site of the current shrine since 1339, and originate with the unlikely, yet victorious, defeat of Abu-al-Malik Abd al-Wahid (also known as Abomelique) and his Muslim forces who had been successfully sacking the lands surrounding the region, but who were stopped in an ambush laid by Castillian forces at what became the shrine site of the Virgin of Alcala. The story has it that on the dawn of the day of battle, the Christian Castillians noticed a banner that depicted an image of Jesus on the cross hanging from a tree. The men prayed, crying ‘SANTUS, SANTUS, SANTUS’ (Fernández Gómez 1995, 216) and took the appearance of the banner as a sign that God would help them be victorious in battle. From this, and as a sign of gratitude, a stone was erected with the inscription "SANTUS, SANTUS, SANTUS". This stone survives and forms part of the foundation on which the current shrine sits. Not long after, a statue of she who is now the Virgin of Alcala is said to have mysteriously appeared close to the site. This is where devotion to Nuestra Señora de los Santos began.
Figure 2. The modern shrine with ‘Santus Santus Santus’ above the entrance.
The current complex as it stands was built in the nineteenth century around an older shrine which can be identified by the baroque style dome structure, around which a larger, shrine was built.
Figure 3. Baroque style dome.
A typically Spanish style patio courtyard area with rooms, a gift shop, and the actual shrine itself form part of the contemporary complex. The Virgin’s shrine is accessed from the patio through two large heavy medieval wooden doors.
Figure 4. The shrine patio.
Figure 5. The entrance to the shrine.
The Virgin
Once inside the shrine, one can see the Virgin who is elevated roughly 12 feet from ground level. She sits in a higher chamber of her own that faces out into the shrine.
Figure 6. The Virgin of Alcala.
Her chamber is accessed through a set of stairs to the side of the main altar. Once in the inner chamber, one can see that the Virgin stands on an ornate pedestal that raises her roughly four feet off of the floor. One can see that it is round, has stained glass windows, and another, high, painted dome ceiling where the faces of cherubs come out from the clouds and blue sky. The Virgin also sits within a templete (or small temple) of silver. The Virgin permanently resides, even during processions, in her templete. On the top of the templete there is a gold miniature and elongated angelic figure blowing a trumpet toward the heavens. At the base of the templete at the statue’s feet, there is a large crescent moon, which according to Marina Warner is symbolic of fertility. She writes that the symbol of the moon ‘...has been the most constant attribute of female divinities in the western world, and was taken over by the Virgin Mary because of ancient beliefs about its functions and role, which Christianity inherited’ (Warner, 1976: 256).
Figure 7. Virgin in her templete.
Figure 8. The Virgin’s mantle.
Entering the chamber allows one to access the back of the Virgin and her mantle/robe, while her front faces outward to the shrine (see Figure 8 above).
The statue of the Virgin is roughly three feet tall, and has fine, delicate looking, classically European features. She also wears a large crown of gold. Her eyes are painted brown without indication of the presence of eyelids. Her statue skin is painted fair. She holds a sceptre in one hand, and a smaller statue of the baby Jesus in the other. This statue of Jesus is tiny in comparison with the statue of the Virgin, and is probably no taller than eight inches, yet his appearance is that of a miniature crowned and robed toddler. The small Jesus is dressed in coordination with the Virgin, and holds a small sceptre in one hand and a globus cruciger in the other.
Figure 9. Virgin’s crown and sceptre.
From the main part of the shrine, the Virgin is displayed and framed within a large arch, and she is sometimes illuminated beneath white light bulbs (see Figure 6 above). From inside the chamber, two large chandeliers are visible, one of which hangs from the centre of the larger dome-like structure. The painting inside the dome has a faded, antique look that is shared by most of the pictures, paintings, and statues found within the shrine. From this perspective, one can also see the rich collection of ex voto offerings along the walls of the shrine.
Ex votos
Figure 10. Ex votos lining shrine walls.
Figure 11. Ex votos.
Ex votos are, according to McDannell, ‘physical expressions of thanks for a cure or divine help’ (1995, 152). In Spain, as well as other predominantly Catholic countries, the custom of painting, or having painted, ex voto offerings dates back to the 14th Century. It did, however, become particularly prolific from the 17th Century onwards. The Virgin’s shrine contains ex votos that can be dated back to 1758. They are a living record to life in the village, and they provide a unique picture of the village’s heritage, i.e. how people lived, the clothes they wore, their values, and the dangers they faced and continue to face in their daily lives. Images depict those bed-ridden with sickness and disease; there are images of people falling while riding horseback or having accidents while ploughing fields. Children falling downstairs, or into wells and rivers can be seen; and there are several incidents of traffic accidents. Some examples of these tragedies where the Virgin of Alcala intervened are as follows:
Figure 12. Depiction of child falling down stairs.
Figure 13. Five year old boy unharmed after being charged by a ‘furious’ cow.
Figure 14. Five year old boy unharmed after being charged by a ‘furious’ cow.
One of the more famous ex votos depicts a man who survives a firing squad. He gives thanks to the Virgin of Alcala for this miracle where the bullets missed their mark.
Figure 15. The Virgin is thanked for intervening with the firing squad.
Some of the ex votos in this shrine are crudely drawn by either children or adults, while others have been painted by professional artists. In images that depict limbs and bodily organs, the Virgin is thought to have intervened and made them well. As demonstrated below, she also helps with conception, and with lactation.
Figure 16. Lactating mother.
Figure 17. Virgin cures a child’s milk allergy.
Figure 18. Virgin helps couple conceive.
A significant part of the shrine complex has a human element, and that is the shrine steward, or as he is known locally, the Santero. The Santero lives in an apartment in the shrine complex with his wife and two children. The Santero is responsible for shrine maintenance, for the security of the shrine, for changing flower offerings (making sure they have fresh water), for welcoming visitors, and for making preparations for some of the shrine’s events, such as the Virgin’s annual romeria (procession around the shrine’s surrounding territory).
The Santero also manages the shrine’s collection of ex votos and is responsible for their restoration and their rotation. In terms of other offerings such as images, war medals, and locks of hair, the Santero also manages these other collections, as well as the expectations of devotees who sometimes want their offerings back.
The Santero is the shrine’s guardian, a gatekeeper and grantor of access (or not) to the Virgin and her chamber, as well as to the famous statue of the infant Jesus.
This second famous statue in the shrine acts as a fertility deity. It is a small statue of the Infant Jesus. Research found that many people around Alcala felt they owed the conception and birth of their child to one particular practice: tugging on the genital region (which is covered by a cloth nappy) of the small statue. Baby paraphernalia can be found on the sides and on top of the glass case within which this Infant Jesus sits. The glass case as a necessary protective measure was introduced due to the amount of physical attention the small statue was receiving.
Figure 19. The infant [fertility] Jesus.
Contemporary Uses
The cult of the Virgin of Alcala is vibrant and lively, and the shrine, with its collection of ex votos, statues, and other offerings, is a central point around and through which devotional practices have been taking place for centuries. In fact, this shrine can be better described as a working shrine, and it is one of the more ritually dynamic shrines in the region of Andalusia. This ritual dynamism stems from the fact visitors and devotees have ‘something to do’ when they get there. Unlike other shrines in the region, people can directly access the Virgin’s chamber directly where they can physically touch the Virgin’s mantle. The shrine dynamic can also be seen in how devotees are able to add to the living collection of ex voto and other offerings, as demonstrated. In fact, the images and other objects such as jewellery and baby paraphernalia can be understood as visual testimonies to the Virgin’s miracle working ability and can therefore be argued to generate devotion to the Virgin.
The shrine dynamic is further demonstrated by the fact that sometimes devotees who leave offerings in the shrine ask for them back. This happens for several reasons, but it has mainly to do with there being limited images of a loved one, in instances where the Virgin acted and so the person in an image is no longer unwell (and therefore no longer needs the Virgin’s assistance), or in instances where the often valuable jewellery of a loved one who has passed away is wanted back as a keepsake by family members. These instances are not the ‘norm’, but the Santero expressed that this is one of the more difficult aspects of managing the collection of offerings in the shrine. It does, however, further demonstrate the working shrine dynamic of the collection, and raises questions about the relational and even volatile quality of the objects on display, i.e. are they ‘loans’, ‘gifts’ or something in between? Ex voto images, on the other hand, are brought and left behind with no expectation to one day return.
This account does reveal how the shrine is an active space that serves a specific function for villagers, visitors, and more committed devotees alike. It is significant to note that not all of the Virgin of Alcala’s devotees are Catholics in the traditional sense that they believe theologically that, according to Marina Warner, ‘Mary and the saints are begged to “pray for us” and not act directly and grant the ultimate object of the prayer’ (Warner, 1976, 288). Accounts reveal that some of the Virgin’s devotees are, in fact, atheists (Whitehead 2013, 49). These devotees are not interested in Catholicism per se, but believe that this particular Virgin has something inexplicable. Accounts also reveal that the site itself forms part of the heritage of being from Alcala de los Gazules, so their devotion is arguably to the place itself.
On a fieldwork visit to the site in 2010, I was shown another chamber that I did not previously know existed. It is partially underground and sits below the elevated chamber of the virgin. This room primarily houses the ex votos left by, and dedicated to, children. Along one wall, the floor is lined with boxes full of devotions, drawings, finger paintings, and other children’s things. This smaller, less public, more intimate and private sanctuary has an altogether different feel to the main shrine which houses the most refined and artistically developed ex votos. The images and devotionals that form this part of the collection are primarily kept out of view and provide further insight into how some things are hidden, while others are displayed. What, then, is the criterion for displaying some things and not others? One can speculate that the reason derives from the objective to uphold the shrine’s reputation as housing one of the more extensive collections of ex voto offerings in all of Spain; and that therefore displaying less refined pieces of devotional art would someone compromise this status. It can also be argued that some of the more crudely developed pieces are somehow second class to the more refined pieces of art. This would indicate a class system of ex voto offerings which, in fact, would be an interesting subject to explore further.
Similarly, this lesser-known sanctuary houses several framed locks of hair. Two of the ‘locks’ are substantial long, thick plaits. One them was a salt and pepper colour, a blend of silver and black, while another was dark reddish brown. I asked the Santero about them, and he said that they remain in the ‘other sanctuary’ due to concerns about hygiene. In terms of their function, he said: prometido (promised). This type of offering differs to that of an ex voto offering in that it does not depict a tragedy or a victory. The presence of una melena (a plait, or substantial piece of hair) visually depicts that a devotee has entered into a form of spiritual negotiation and exchange with the Virgin where a promise was made (‘If you do this for me, I will cut off and offer you my hair), and a petition was granted. As I have argued elsewhere,
These interactions are powerful, and they contain transformative capabilities. For this reason, the ritual dynamics that take place in the ontologically “unstable space” of the shrine of the Virgin are better understood as “working relationships.” They are “generated and generative,” mutual, and co-created. Devotees work for the Virgin and the infant Jesus statue (but mainly the Virgin), and in return, the statues work for their devotees (Whitehead 2018, 217).
As suggested, the shrine of the Virgin of Alcala is unusual for its open collections of ex voto offerings, as well as for its interactive dynamic. It is not, however, the only working shrine in Spain. Others exist, such as la Ermita de Nustra Senora del Villar in Laguna de Duero, a town in the province of Valladolid in Castile and Leon. In this shrine, a glass cabinet houses and displays several long plaits, along with images of loved ones, and wax body parts. Within the walls of the shrine of a ‘black Madonna’ called Virgin de Regla in Chipiona, Spain (also in Andalusia), another glass cabinet exists where one can see rosaries and images of people (although lacking in hair). The presence of these things, displayed in these ways, are equally potent expressions of devotion to the Virgin Mary statues at these different sites. They are all ontologically ‘unstable’, liminal shrine spaces where ordinary things become, by virtue of their intention, traditions, and circumstance, extraordinary. A form of religious transformation occurs whereby offerings become a type of spiritual currency that are capable of moving messages between this world and the next.
Far from static, or statically displayed and inaccessible, the collection of ex votos and other offerings found in the shrine of Nuestra Señora de los Santos form a significant part of a volatile and lively network of devotional expression and traditional practices. The ‘things’ found in this shrine and others not only speak volumes about lived Marian devotion (which is not always theologically prescriptive), but about the dynamic roles that ex voto and other offerings play in the lived realities of religions.
Bibliography
Fernández Gómez, M. (1995). “La villa de Alcalá de los Gazules (Cádiz): un enclave fronterizo del reino de Sevilla en la Baja Edad Media”. In En La España Medieval, 18, p. 205.
McDannell, Colleen, 1995. Material Christianity: Religion and Popular Culture in America. New Haven & London: Yale University Press.
Warner, Marina. 1976. Alone of All Her Sex: The Myth and the Cult of the Virgin Mary. New York: Alfred A. Knoptf.
Whitehead, Amy. 2013. Religious Statues and Personhood: Testing the Role of Materiality. London: Bloosmbury.
Whitehead, Amy. 2018. ‘Devotional Bodies, Working Shrines: the dynamics of devotion in a Marian Shrine’. Magic, Ritual and Witchcraft. 13.2: 212-230.
Amy R. Whitehead is a Senior Lecturer in Social Anthropology at Massey University in Aotearoa New Zealand. An Anthropologist of Religion/Religious Studies scholar, she is the author of Religious Statues and Personhood: Testing the Role of Materiality (2013), as well as several journal articles and chapters for edited volumes. Amy’s primary areas of research concern the material and performance cultures of religions, ritual studies, and Earth Traditions (Paganisms, Goddess movements). She has also co-edited edited volumes, including Indigenous Religions: Critical Concepts for Religious Studies (2018), and Religion and Touch (2021), and is the managing series editor for Bloomsbury Studies in Material Religion.
