The Discovery of the Statue of the Virgin of Candelaria

In 1390, Candelaria was a solitary place frequented by Guanche herders of the menceyato de Güímar. One evening, two natives leading their cattle saw some goats refusing to come to the mouth of a ravine; they sent forward one of them thinking there were people who wanted to steal them and they found, on a rock, the statue of the Virgin of Candelaria. The statue was found in a beach near to Candelaria and was initially taken to the cave of Chinguaro, the palace of the king of Güímar. Later the Guanches moved her to the cave of Achbinico in Candelaria, where she was venerated. At first the Guanches identified it with their goddess Chaxiraxi, but later the Christian conquerors identified it as the statue of the Virgin Mary.

Shortly after, a chapel was built. In 1596, king Philip II was declared protector of the Virgin of Candelaria. After ascending the throne, the Spanish monarch gave the title of "Royal" to the sanctuary of the Candelaria, making it the first sanctuary in the Canary Islands to receive that title. The present basilica was built over an old church that was destroyed by fire in 1789. However, the construction of the temple was postponed several times by the economic crisis of 1931, World War II, and the Spanish Civil War. Finally, the bishop of Tenerife promoted the construction, commissioning architect Jose Enrique Marrero Regalado. The new sanctuary, a neo-Canarian eclectic mix of styles, was consecrated on February 1, 1959.

Nowadays Candelaria is the main Catholic centre of pilgrimage in the Canary Islands and receives more than 2.5 million visitors annually. Inside the Camarín de la Virgen de Candelaria, a room just behind the altar, the wooden statue of the black Madonna is kept. Currently, this Marian shrine attracts not only pilgrims and devout Catholics, but also followers of other religions. Among the latter are some people from the Hindu community in Tenerife, who donated some robes for the Virgin's statue.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons