The story
Romeria de la Virgen del Cisne in Loja
A wooden statue of the Virgin Mary travels on foot roughly seventy kilometers from the sanctuary town of El Cisne to Loja's cathedral each August, accompanied by pilgrims walking multi-day stages through San Pedro de la Bendita and Catamayo. Rooted in a reported 1594 apparition and formalized as an organized walk since 1830, it draws several hundred thousand participants and ranks among Ecuador's largest annual religious gatherings.
Each August, a small wooden Virgin known locally as la Churonita leaves its sanctuary in El Cisne and begins a walk of roughly seventy kilometers toward the cathedral in Loja, accompanied by pilgrims who cover the same route on foot.