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| Our Lady of Meritxell | |
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| Also called | Diada de Meritxell, festivitat de Nostra Senyora de Meritxell |
| Observed by | Andorra |
| Date | 8 September |
| Next time | 8 September 2025 |
| Frequency | annual |
Our Lady of Meritxell (Catalan: Mare de Déu de Meritxell, IPA: [ˈmaɾə ðə ˈðew ðə məɾiˈtʃeʎ]) is an Andorran Roman Catholic statue depicting an apparition of the Virgin Mary. Our Lady of Meritxell is the patron saint of Andorra.[1] The original statue dated from the late 12th century. However, the chapel in which it was housed burned down on 8 September 1972, and the statue was destroyed. A replica can be found in the new Meritxell Basilica, designed in 1976 by Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura.
The Catalan philologist Joan Coromines says that Meritxell is a diminutive of merig, from the Latin meridiem ("midday"). Merig is a name used by shepherds to denote a pasture with lot of sun.[2]
The image was canonically crowned by Pope Benedict XV on 8 September 1921.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
museuswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Meritxell Chapel". Archived from the original on 2014-01-09. Retrieved 2008-09-16.