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Every year the feast day devoted to the Virgen de los Desamparados, the patron of the city of Valencia, is celebrated on the second Sunday of May, an event which is a mandatory part of the annual calendar for the population of Spain’s third largest city.

 

Many inhabitants call the Virgen de los Desamparados “La Geperudeta” (the hunchback) in reference to her slightly hunched appearance in the statue which is housed in the main altar of the cathedral. In order to protect the sculpture the original 15th-century image remains in place within the Cathedral, while for the annual processions the authorities have commissioned replicas since the mid-twentieth century, so the image which is displayed in the streets today was in fact created in 1966 by Octavio Vicent, whose figure replaces the 1948 version by his father Carmelo.

 

On the Saturday night before the fiesta an open-air concert is given in the Plaza de la Virgen by the Banda Municipal of Valencia, and this is followed by a firework display, the “Dança”, a fragment of local popular dance, and the “Nit d’Albaes”, where typical songs belonging to the region are sung. At approximately 5.00 in the morning a “Misa Descuberta” (open-air Mass) is held.

 

At 8.00 on the Sunday morning the Misa de Infantes Mass is celebrated at an outdoor altar in front of the basilica of La Mare de Déu. This altar is decorated with flowers, and later at 10.30 the image of the Virgen is taken from the Basilica to the Cathedral via the Puerta de los Hierros. This for many is the highlight of the proceedings, culminating in the Virgen entering the cathedral backwards.

 

At 12.00 more fireworks are set off, and in the afternoon the image sets out again on another procession through the streets, where she is showered with thousands of petals. The atmosphere is completed by the installation in the Plaza de la Reina of special market known as “L’escuraeta”, where ceramics and pottery are sold. Throughout the day the City of Valencia is packed with the population of not only the city itself, but also the outlying districts, all enjoying the day of the patrona of their city.
 

Images. Copyrighted. Gva