Romeria

A Romería in Spanish or "Romaria" in Portuguese is a religious pilgrimage. The word "Romería"/"Romaria" comes from "romero"/"romeiro", meaning those travelling towards Rome. It is a Catholic celebration that consists of a trip or peregrination (in cars, floats, on horseback or on foot) that ends at a sanctuary or hermitage. It is not necessarily always a trip, but in some cases a celebration that lasts all day long.

Background

One of the most famous examples of a romería is that of Nuestra Señora del Rocío, in which the faithful move to the Sanctuary of the Virgen del Rocío in the village of the Rocío, in Almonte, Huelva. The Romeria of Sant John of the Mountain, celebrated in Miranda de Ebro, is the second most important romeria in Spain behind El Rocío with more than 25.000 romeros.

Another one of the most representative examples is the Romería of the Virgen de la Cabeza (Andújar, Jaén), which is considered the oldest Romería of Spain, and consists of the displacement of the travellers coming from all over the country to the Sanctuary of the Virgen de la Cabeza, through 33 km of Andújar, in the heart of Sierra de Andujar natural park. This celebration is held the last Sunday of April, and is considered of national tourist interest.

Romeria (genus)

Romeria is an extinct genus of Early Permian captorinid known from Texas of the United States. It was first named by Llewellyn Ivor Price in 1937 and the type species is Romeria texana. R. texana is known from the holotype MCZ 1480, a three-dimensionally preserved skull. It was collected in the Archer City Bonebed 1 site, from the Archer City Formation, dating to the Asselian stage of the Cisuralian epoch, about 299-294.6 million years ago. A second species, Romeria primus, was first named by Clark and Carroll in 1973. In 1979, it was corrected as Romeria prima by Heaton. R. prima is known from the holotype MCZ 1963, a three-dimensionally preserved skull. It was collected in the Cottonwood Creek site, from the same horizon as the type species.

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