What to do · Doñana and El Rocío
The Hermitage and Sand Streets of El Rocío
Information
- Price
- Free
- Duration
- 1 h
- Who it's for
- Everyone
- With a dog
- On a lead in the streets; not allowed in the hermitage
El Rocío is a village in Almonte without tarmac: sand streets, brotherhood houses with porches and rails for tying up horses and, at the edge of the marsh, the white hermitage of the Virgen del Rocío. Outside the pilgrimage, which fills the village at Pentecost, it is a quiet village where more horses than cars pass by. In 1992 it was declared the International Village of the Horse.
The hermitage
The first hermitage, Santa María de las Rocinas, already existed in the early 14th century and was probably ordered by Alfonso X at the end of the 13th. It lasted until the Lisbon earthquake of 1755. The one built afterwards was demolished in the 1960s to build the present sanctuary, which was blessed on 12 April 1969. While the work lasted, the Virgin was venerated in a temporary chapel. The new camarín was inaugurated in 1999 and the altarpiece was finished in 2006.
In the sanctuary's galleries is the Treasury Museum of the Hermandad Matriz, open since 2014. It displays a tile panel from 1696, the only piece left of the original building, the Crown of the Sun, from the 17th century, the crown of the 1919 canonical coronation, ex-votos, costumes and a processional float from 1933, and ends with a projection in a room with views over Doñana. It is open Wednesday to Sunday and public holidays; for opening hours, the brotherhood can be reached on 620 42 84 25.
How to see it
Park at the entrance and walk. Go into the hermitage, come out on the marsh side and continue along the walk by the water. From the hermitage a wooden boardwalk leads in a few minutes to the Francisco Bernis Ornithological Centre. On a Sunday morning you will see riders and carts. Also go to the Plaza del Acebuchal, a natural monument for its centuries-old wild olive trees.
On pilgrimage days, which culminate in the Virgin's procession on Pentecost Monday and bring together more than a million people, and on the big pilgrimages, everything changes: check the Almonte calendar before you go.
Getting there
From the A-49, take the A-483 towards Bollullos del Condado, Almonte and El Rocío. Inside the village, the road running alongside the marsh leads to the hermitage. The sanctuary is adapted for people with hearing impairments.
Where to eat and sleep
On the Plaza del Acebuchal, next to the hermitage, are Toruño, with a dining room facing the marsh, and its hotel. On Calle Sanlúcar, LaBoca and La Malvasía also look out over the water.
Tips
- Go on a weekday You will see the village quiet, as it is most of the year.
- Go up to the Treasury Museum From its last room you see Doñana from the galleries.
With young childrenAs a familyWith a dog
