BASILICA SANCTUARY OF OUR LADY OF MERITXELL

This is the spiritual centre of Andorra, since the sanctuary is dedicated to the Virgin Meritxell, the patron saint of all the Andorran valleys. The oldest building is a church dating from 1658, built on the remains of a Romanesque building, of which only the apse and the west wall remain visible. On the night of 8/9 September 1972 (the day of the patron saint), a violent fire destroyed the small church. The flames destroyed the image of the Virgin of Meritxell, a Romanesque sculpture from the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th centuries (which, according to legend, had been found in January under a flowering rose hip), a Gothic Virgin, four Gothic and Baroque altarpieces, and all the ornamentation of the chevet, the work of the painter Oromí de la Seu d'Urgell.

Following this tragedy, the General Council of Andorra commissioned Ricardo Bofill's architectural studio to design a new sanctuary. Inaugurated on September 8, 1976, it has a resolutely modern, even futuristic design. This sanctuary remains one of the most sensitive places in Andorran culture. At the entrance stands a monument commemorating the seventh Pareatge (13th century), the work of Andorran sculptor Roger Mas. Inside, the replica of the statuette of the Romanesque Virgin is the work of the Andorran sculptor Sergi Mas, one of the Principality's most renowned artists. In the old part, a commemorative exhibition traces the history of the people, the church, the patronage and the fire. In 2014, Pope Francis awarded the shrine the distinction of minor basilica, recognizing the singular liturgical life of the shrine and the remarkable cultural activity of the place.

Birth of the Shrine. The beautiful legend that tells the story of the birth of this chapel deserves to be told. One Sunday, on the 6th of January of a year of uncertain date, some inhabitants of the hamlet of Canillo went, as usual, to mass. They were surprised to discover, not far from the road, a rose hip in bloom at this time of year! At the foot of the shrub they discovered a wooden statue of the Virgin and her son. The statue was placed in the church of Canillo and an altar was dedicated to it. The next morning, the Virgin had disappeared! She was found at the foot of the same rosebush, still in bloom. So they put her in the church in Encamp, from where she disappeared again. Then the snow began to fall in abundance, except on the rose hip and its surroundings. The faithful understood that the Mother of God did not want to leave the mountain or this place. So the first chapel in Meritxell was built there. On 24th September 1873, the Council of the Valleys, in an extraordinary meeting, placed all the territories of the valleys of Andorra under the protection of the Blessed Virgin of Meritxell and petitioned the Pope for a papal bull to consecrate her as patron saint of the valleys. On 13 May 1914, Pope Pius X sent the bull to the Andorran people. The terms of this agreement were sculpted in a marble block at the entrance to the chapel. The Virgin of Meritxell was canonically crowned on September 8, 1921 by the cardinal archbishop of Tarragona, Mgr Vidal and Mgr Barraquer. Then came the terrible night of September 8, 1972 and the fire, followed by the new temple designed by Ricardo Bofill, inaugurated four years later, just!