About Torreciudad

Torreciudad is a shrine dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, in Aragon in the north of Spain. Devotion to Our Lady of Torreciudad dates back to the eleventh century. The new Shrine, built under the guidance of the founder of Opus Dei, Saint Josemaría Escrivá, was inaugurated on 7 July 1975. He said that what he hoped for from the shrine were "spiritual fruits: graces that the Lord will wish to grant to all who come to honour his Blessed Mother at her shrine. These are the miracles I desire: conversions, and peace for many souls." With this in mind, he asked for confessional chapels to be built and for everything be done to enable people to pray at the Shrine in peace.

The Torreciudad Trust looks after the upkeep of the Shrine and its financial needs. It also organises many of the gatherings which take place there. As well as a Board of Directors, it has a team of experts, in charge of the day to day management of the Shrine, and local delegates, who help to make Torreciudad known and who promote pilgrimages.

Many people helped in the building of the new Shrine, and they continue to help today towards its maintenance, which also depends on the generosity of those who visit it. At the same time, a number of official bodies and private organisations cooperate in funding its activities. They know that Torreciudad contributes to the social welfare of the local district and to the region of Aragon as a whole.

The principal architect of the new Shrine is Heliodoro Dols. From 1970 to 1975 he supervised the building works, with the assistance of the architects Santiago Sols and Ramon Mondejar.

The new shrine of Torreciudad is a unique architectural monument. Among the outstanding features of the main church are the alabaster altarpiece, the work of Juan Mayné, and the Blessed Sacrament chapel, with its bronze figure of the crucified Christ, by Pasquale Sciancalepore.

In the crypt there is a chapel dedicated to the Holy Family, as well as three confessional chapels. These chapels are dedicated respectively to Our Lady of Loreto, Our Lady of the Pilar and Our Lady of Guadalupe. Along three covered archways on the esplanade, the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious mysteries of the Rosary are represented.

These ceramic works are by José Alzuet. He also did of the Stations of the Cross, which follow a way between rocks and centuries old olive trees.

As you walk along the path leading to the original medieval shrine you can see the Seven Sorrows and Seven Joys of St Joseph, in ceramic, the work of Palmira Laguens.

The medieval shrine housed the original statue of Our Lady of Torreciudad before it was transferred to the new church. People from the surrounding towns and villages have a great devotion to Our Lady of Torreciudad, as do many pilgrims who come to this corner of northern Aragon. Spiritual activities at the Shrine are entrusted to the Opus Dei Prelature.

Torreciudad is open every day of the year. If they wish, visitors may participate in the liturgical acts of worship and in the other spiritual activities organised in this pilgrimage centre.

 

Torreciudad is the goal of many pilgrimages. Some of the more important yearly events are listed below.

The Marian Family Day attracts thousands of people who come to pray to Our Lady of Torreciudad for the family. As on other occasions, that day Torreciudad becomes a "shrine for the family"

In keeping with established tradition, neighbours and families who spend their summer holidays in the surrounding areas come in the month of August to celebrate the Blessed Virgin's festival.

Each year the music department organises a festival of International Organ and Church Music which attracts organists of world renown. The shrine has a 4,072 pipe organ.

A 200 mile (350 km) route links the three Shrines of El Pilar (Saragossa), Torreciudad and Lourdes in a prayerful journey, combining artistic works and breathtaking scenery.

The Torreciudad Trust cooperates in many cultural and social activities in the surrounding districts: work camps, projects and outings for university students, training courses for different trades and professions, as well as agricultural, sporting and other events to promote social welfare. To foster the spiritual, social and economic benefits of the Shrine, the Trust keeps in regular contact with Church bodies and civil authorities.

Torreciudad is one of the most visited places in the Aragon Pyrenees. Thousands of people from the world over come each year to this pilgrimage centre, where peace and silence are found in a setting of great natural beauty. The attractions of the region make it easy for travel agencies, parishes and educational organisations to include it in the itineraries of their pilgrimages and other tours.

From the car or coach parks you reach the esplanade through the entrance gates which are on each side of the Information Office.
Holy Mass and other liturgical ceremonies can be celebrated in the esplanade when the number of people attending is too large for the church of the Shrine. The altar for these out-door acts of worship is on a rostrum beside the church porch. To the left of this altar there is a bronze statue of Our Lady of Torreciudad, larger than the original one which is now set in the reredos, the sculptured altarpiece in the church.
Once through the entrance gates and in the esplanade you can get to the Shrine from the main concourse (with steps up to the church) or by the way that goes above the galleries at the side. This second way avoids uneven ground and climbing of steps.
The buildings adjacent to the Shrine are those of the Social Training Centre and are used for various cultual and educational activities.

The Shrine is the centre of all that goes on in Torreciudad. The church, opened for public worship on 7 july 1975, was built by members of Opus Dei carrying the wishers of their Founder, the Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, to honour Our Lady and be a means of spiritual renewal through the Sacrament of Penance. The Opus Dei Prelature is responsible for the spiritual care of the Shrine and of the Social Training Centre. The building is the work of the architect Heliodoro Dols.
In the great altarpiece, set in a niche above the choir stalls, is the original Romanesque carved statue of Our Lady of Torreciudad, Queen of the Angels. Around the statue there are eight sculptured groups representing some of the main events in Our Lady´s life: her Betrothal to St. Joseph, the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Adoration of the Shepherds, the Flight into Egypt, the Workshop at Nazareth, the Crucifixion of Our Lord, and the Coronation of Our Lady in Heaven. This altarpiece is the work of the sculptor Juan Mayné. It was carved in alabaster in José Miret´s workshop. The polychrome artist was Emilio Juliá.

This is located below the Shrine and entered by the last of the porticoes of the gallery on the north side. A curved ramp leads directly into the Crypt from the church door. There are three chapels in the Crypt, dedicated to Our Lady of Loreto, Our Lady of the Pilar, and Our Lady of Guadalupe.
The regular times for Confessions can be seen on the notice-board on the way in. Priest are also available to hear Confessions outside these set times, whenever the church is open.
In the entrance porch of the chapels there are booklets for the use of those preparing for Confession. Confessions are heard in any of the major European languages.
In the Chapel of Our Lady of the Pilar there is a confesional for the deaf or hard of hearing.

Following an old Aragonese custom the tabernacle is seen through a window in the upper part of the altarpiece, below the scene of the Coronation of Our Lady.
At the left hand side of the nave, in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, an image of Christ , cast in bronce, is the work of the Italian sculptor Pasquale Sciancalepore.

There is a door, on the lower right side of the sanctuary, and on going through this it is possible to kiss a Medallion at the back of the niche holding Our Lady´s statue. The Medallion is connected to the base of the statue. This is the original, very old statue that used to be carried through nearby villages to keep the devotion to Our Lady alive among the faithful and collect alms for the upkeep of the Shrine as it then was. Offerings for the present Shrine can be left in the boxes beside the Medallion.

This is 400 yards from de Shrine. It can be reached from the esplanade by way of the gallery on the south side (on the left-hand side of the esplanade if you are facing the church). It is a very old building, restored in 1969 by the Torreciudad trust, and the statue of Our Lady used to be there before it was moved to the new Shrine. In the altarpiece of the Hermitage chapel there is a painting showing the statue of Our Lady of Torreciudad as it was before the restoration work was done on it.

This pious Christian devotion can be practised in the church of the Shrine or in the Hermitage as there are Stations of the Cross in both places.
In addition a Way of the Cross has been set up outside the Shrine. The fourteen Stations are represented in pictures made of ceremic tiles and the Way climbs up from the path leading to the Hermitage and ends at a point on a level with the esplanade of the Shrine.

The prayerful recital of the Rosary has always been one of the traditional devotions when following the old custom of visiting shrines of Our Lady.
Saying the Rosary and contemplating the Mysteries usually takes place in Torreciudad while walking along the Rosary Way where the fifteen Mysteries are depicted in ceramic tiles.
The Jouful Mysteries take up the first section of the north gallery ( on the right hand side of the esplanade if you are facing the church). The Sorrowful Mysteries are in the gallery by the entrance to the Crypt where the confessionals are, and the Glorious Mysteries in the porticoes on the south side (on the left hand side of the esplanade if you are facing the church).
On Saturdays, Sundays and feast days in May and October -and on other special days- the Rosary es recited walking to the Shrine from the wayside Cross less than a mile along the road leading to Torreciudad.

Along the path that goes down to the Hermitage from the esplanade there are fourteen pictures in ceramic tiles representing the Seven Joys and Seven Sorrows of the holy Patriarch.
The prayers for the "Seven Sundays of St. Joseph" found in some prayerbooks are very suitable for this devotion but pilgrims simply say prayers they find appropriate.