Avenida de La Mare de Déu del Lledó. Castellon de La Plana

The sanctuary of the Virgin of Lledó is reached by a cozy avenue, one and a half kilometers long, originating in the north-eastern corner of Plaza Maria Agustina.

After walking about 400 meters, you will see a giant statue depicting the mythical giant Tombatossals, installed to mark the 750th anniversary of the city. I will tell you more about it in one of the following articles.

On the same square there is a residential building of original architecture in the form of an inverted glass.

Another 450 meters away is the monument to the peasant Perot Graniana, which began the urban legend of the Virgin of Ledo. I will also tell you about it separately.

At the intersection of the alley with the ring road (Circunvalación), there is a circular square with several sculptures. One of them depicts a fragment of a city festival, when hundreds of women and girls carry a bouquet of flowers to the sanctuary. This is the work of Enrique Gimeno, installed in 2005. The second sculpture was made by Agustina Ortega in 2009, where we see the Virgin of Ledo without a mantle during prayer.

At the end of the alley is a white marble column surmounted by a cross. In the Middle Ages, such structures were called Cruz de Término, which can be translated as a border cross, they were placed at the entrance to the settlement as a sign of piety of its inhabitants. Crosses also served as road signs on pilgrimage routes and were placed near shrines, so that they could be seen from afar. Documents show that the first cross in front of the basilica was installed in 1619 on the initiative of the wife of one of the local nobles, Angela Bono. This cross was destroyed during the Civil War. In 1957, the city council commissioned a new cross of the city's famous Cabedo dynasty of sculptors, which was originally installed in the middle part of the alley, but two years later was moved to the basilica and named Peiró de Lledó. The western side of the cross is decorated with a bas-relief of the Virgin of Ledo, the patroness of the city. The miraculous figurine is the main relic of the city and is kept in the basilica, where we are heading.