| Description : Around the Eastern Pyrenees there are five Marian shrines:
Lourdes, Torreciudad, the Basílica del Pilar in Zaragoza, the Monastery of Montserrat and the shrine of Meritxell.
According to legend, on Epiphany Day in the 12th century, churchgoers near Meritxell noticed a miraculously blossoming
rose bush beside the snow‐covered path, under which they found a statue of the Madonna. They gave it to the priest in
Canillo, who locked it in the church. Mysteriously, however, the next day it was back at the place where it had been
found. The same thing happened after a handover to the church of Encamp. For that reason, it was decided to build a chapel
where the Madonna was found and place an 83 cm high polychrome painted wood statue in an altar niche. In 1873, the
Consell General de les Valls (General Council of the Valleys ‐ the Andoran parliament) declared the patron saint of
Andorra. On the 8th of September 1921 on this day in 1278, Andorra became a co‐Principality by the treaty
called Pareatges), the statue of the Virgin Mary was consecrated. Since then, the day of Nostra Senyora de Meritxell, the
country's patron saint, has been celebrated as the bank holidays of the Principality of Andorra. The original chapel was
built in the Romanesque architectural style and was completely renovated in the 17th century. In 1972, the building
caught fire the night after the bank holidays and was completely destroyed. No remains of the Romanesque statue were found,
so there is speculation that it was arson to cover up its theft. The new sacred building, designed by the Spanish architect
Ricardo Bofill, was inaugurated on the 8th of September 1976 and elevated to the status of basilica minor by
Pope Francis in 2014. In the basilica minor is a sculpture of the Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus by Andorran artist
Jaume Rubia and presents a replica of the Romanesque original. The coin, designed by Orietta Rossi, shows the
replica of the statue of the Virgin Mary with the inscription "MERITXELL" in the base in front of the interior of the new
basilica, flanked on the left by the year of consecration "1921" and on the right by the year of issue "2021". At the top
right is a six‐petalled flower in a circle, a decorative element of the statue. At the bottom, "ANDORRA" is the name
of the issuing country. Andorran coins are minted alternately in the countries of the co‐Princes of Andorra; in 2021
this concerned France with the Monnaie de Paris in Pessac. |
