New cultural route charts historic journey of Cártama's patron through South America

Tony Bryant

Monday, 19 February 2024, 17:56

Cártama town hall has launched a new initiative that highlights the historic journey that the town’s patron, Nuestra Señora de los Remedios (Our Lady of Remedies), embarked on through South America between 1936 and 1938.

Remedios Coronada - La Virgen que Recorrió América (the Virgin that toured America) consists of a new visitor centre, along with nine mosaic plaques that chart the journey, which are located along the processional itinerary the iconic image makes through the town on 23 April, the patron’s feast day. The mosaics include texts from the book, The Minstrel and the Pilgrim Virgin, a work published by Cártama writer Francisco Baquero Luque.

The image of the Virgin was taken on a tour of 18 countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru, by a local poet, González Marín, and his assistant, shortly before the Spanish Civil War broke out.

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The project includes a booklet that gives an account of the journey, which can be obtained from the visitor centre located at the town hall.

“With this project, visibility is given to this great story that links us and our patron to South America. It is a worldwide story that we should all know, and which can now be enjoyed through this initiative,” the town’s mayor, Jorge Gallardo, said.