In the Los Roques Archipelago in Venezuela, a beautiful statue of the Virgin of the Valley is hidden in the sea. This amazing location allows you to visit Our Lady while exploring the Caribbean.
Located about 100 miles north of Caracas, Los Roques is one of the country's main tourist attractions. Among the more than 300 islands that this archipelago houses, the Francisquí Keys hide this treasure in their waters.
This statue of the Virgin of the Valley is about five feet high and is made of cast bronze.
How did it get there?
Some media outlets say divers discovered the statue in 1984. However, others claim it was Admiral Armando Laguna Laguna who led a team of divers in 2013 to place the image of the Virgin under water.
What is a known fact is the great devotion of the inhabitants to this Marian devotion.
“I was born here in Los Roques and I have dedicated 50 years to the Virgin of the Valley, and as long as I am alive I dedicate it to her, and every time I ask the Virgin of the Valley, it seems that she listens to me because it must be faith,” one of her devotees says in a video.
“She performed a miracle here for the boys who were fishing and the boat capsized,” the individual added.
“They prayed, prayed, prayed and they clung to the Virgin of the Valley, and the Virgin of the Valley brought them to the hill, and they arrived saying that it was the Virgin of the Valley who had saved them.”
How can I visit this Marian image?
To get there, you must take a flight from Caracas to Gran Roque Island. Then, a boat will take you to the Francisquí Keys, a group of three islands located 10 minutes to the east.
From Cayo Francisquí de Arriba you will walk between three to four minutes until you reach the natural pool, where you will find the Virgin of the Valley in its waters.
Devotion to the Virgin of the Valley
According to Vatican News, this Marian devotion dates back to the conquest, when the Spanish founded the city of Nueva Cádiz on the island of Cubagua, located in the Nueva Esparta Archipelago, northeast of Venezuela.
To place this city, enriched by pearl mining, under the protection of Mary, they commissioned an image of the Immaculate Conception, which, a decade after their arrival, miraculously resisted the passage of a hurricane that devastated the city on Dec. 25, 1541.
The statue was taken to Margarita Island, 25 miles north of Venezuela, and placed in a hermitage on a farm surrounded by mountains to protect it from possible natural disasters. This location gave it the name of Virgen del Valle.
"The temple that today houses the statue was built between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century and was elevated to the rank of 'Minor Basilica' by Pope John Paul II in 1995," Vatican News added.
Every September 8, Venezuela celebrates the feast of the Virgin of the Valley. She is considered the patron saint of fishermen and the east of this country.