Awaiting discovery in the mountains close to Estadilla is the Shrine of the Virgen de la Carrodilla. This is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, who is said to have appeared to two charcoal burners who had gone to cut wood in the mountains. She appeared above their cart and asked them to build a shrine in which to worship her. The men told their story to the villagers upon their return but nobody believed them, if fact they were laughed at by many. The men were unsure what to do so they returned to the same spot in the mountains to ask for guidance. The Virgin Mary performed a small miracle to help them in their quest; she stuck the hand of one of the men to his cheek in a way that no human force could separate it. Upon seeing what had happened the villagers believed the story and construction of the chapel went ahead.

As the statue of the Virgin Mary stands on a cart some people have linked the origins of her apparition, and subsequent devotion, to the Christianization of an ancestral pagan cult devoted to the God, Cybele. 

 

  • Estadilla. Aparicion de la Virgen