Painting of the find of the statue of the <i>Virgen de la Peña</i> by an unknown artist, Ermita de Virgen de la Peña, Barranco de las Peñitas, Vega de Río Palmas, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain.<br>On May 19, 1445 the monk Fray <b>Juan Torcas</b> was picking herbs, when he was caught unawares in the barranco by a storm and heard wonderful music. He told this to his abbot, who decided to identify the source of the music. For a long time he sounded the rock until he struck on a rock at the narrowest part of the barranco. The rock broke open and a niche was visible, containing a statue of St. Mary, the "<i><b>Virgin of the Rock</b></i>" (<i><b>Virgen de la Peña</b></i>) <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Santa_Mar%C3%ADa_-_Iglesia_de_Nuestra_Se%C3%B1ora_de_la_Pe%C3%B1a_-_Vega_de_Rio_Palmas.jpg" title="File:Santa María - Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Peña - Vega de Rio Palmas.jpg">File:Santa María - Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Peña - Vega de Rio Palmas.jpg</a>. This statue is now deposited in the main altar of the pilgrimage church Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Peña of Vega de Rio Palmas <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Iglesia_de_Nuestra_Se%C3%B1ora_de_la_Pe%C3%B1a_-_Vega_de_Rio_Palmas.jpg" title="File:Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Peña - Vega de Rio Palmas.jpg">File:Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Peña - Vega de Rio Palmas.jpg</a>,  built in the 17th century, which is the most famous pilgrimage church of Fuerteventura. At the place where the statue had been found, the chapel of the Virgen de la Peña was built <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ermita_de_Virgen_de_la_Pe%C3%B1a_01.jpg" title="File:Ermita de Virgen de la Peña 01.jpg">File:Ermita de Virgen de la Peña 01.jpg</a>. Once a year, on the third weekend of September, the statute is carried in a procession from the pilgrimage church to the chapel, the location where it had been found.
This legend has a historical gist: Probably <b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadifer_de_la_Salle" class="extiw" title="w:Gadifer de la Salle">Gadifer de la Salle</a></b> has brought the statue from Normandy and hid it in the gorge in fear of pirate attacks. Perhaps the hiding place was forgotten and the statue was discovered years later by chance.
<a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Llez" title="User:Llez">H. Zell</a>
CC BY-SA 3.0
<span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>