NATIONAL
Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquir? or the Virgin of Chiquinquir? is a title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the northern Andean region of South America. She is the patron saint of Colombia, the Venezuelan state of Zulia, and the town of Caraz in Peru.
In Colombia, her painted image rests in the Bas?lica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Chiquinquir?, where thousands of pilgrims arrive not only for the Feast Day on July 9, but also every Sunday, when they celebrate masses and processions. On July 3, 1986, Pope John Paul II visited the sanctuary and prayed for peace in Colombia at the feet of the Virgin Mary's image. The title given to the Virgin is from the city of Chiquinquir?, where the first of the Virgin's miraculous manifestations occurred, and where the original image from the sixteenth century is kept.
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An image of the Virgin of Chiquinquir? can be found at the Bas?lica of Maracaibo, in Maracaibo, Venezuela, where it is also called La Chinita. Every November 18, the city celebrates the traditional Feast of La Chinita with masses and processions in honor of the Virgin.
INTERNATIONAL
La Tomatina is a festival that is held in the Valencian town of Bu?ol, in which participants throw tomatoes at each other. It is held the last Wednesday in August, during the week of festivities of Buñol.
OriginIn 1945, during a parade of gigantes y cabezudos, young men who wanted to participate in the event staged a brawl. Since there was a vegetable stand nearby, they picked up tomatoes and used them as weapons. The police had to intervene to break up the fight, and forced those responsible to pay the damages incurred.
The following year the young people repeated the fight, only this time they brought their own tomatoes from home. They were again dispersed by the police. After repeating this in subsequent years, the party was, albeit unofficially, established.
