Our Lady of the Valley, a spiritual experience on Margarita

Europe has Medjugorje, Fátima and Lourdes. Mexico has Guadalupe. And on Margarita we have our own Lady of the Valley. Locals lovingly call her La Vallita. You will hardly find a shop or public place on the island without her image.

Her story began on the neighbouring island of Cubagua, where a statue of the Virgin Mary was brought in the 16th century. When the settlement of Nueva Cádiz was abandoned, the statue was moved to Margarita, to a small chapel in the valley of El Valle del Espíritu Santo.

According to tradition, a great drought struck Margarita in 1608. The islanders carried the statue in procession to the town of La Asunción and prayed for rain. As soon as they passed through the town gate, a downpour broke from the previously clear sky. It rained all day and through the following night. The people of the island saw it as the answer to their prayers.

On the eighth of September you can experience this tradition too. Pilgrims gather at the basilica in El Valle, and in the bay of Pampatar fishermen sail out in decorated boats. Their procession at sea is called the Barloventeo. From the shore you can watch the people whom the sea feeds honour their patron saint.