Hermitage of the Mother of God of Butsènit

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The Hermitage of Our Lady of Butsènit, dating from the time of the reconquest of Lleida, in 1149. Tradition tells how, when the Saracens approached these lands, the Christians hid the image so that it would not be profaned by the unfaithful Several centuries passed until Lleida became Christian again. One fine day, a shepherd noticed that one of his oxen, instead of grazing, was sulking while digging the ground, and when he got closer he found that part of a beautiful image of the Mother was emerging from the ground of God In 1495, in that same place, a chapel was built to venerate her, where the image was preserved until its disappearance during the Reapers' War (1640-1652).

The repopulating family of Butsènit is believed to have left during the conquest of Valencia, in 1238, until in 1300, a Valencian with the surname Butsènit founded a building for the conservation and worship of the sanctuary that already existed.

The different war conflicts caused the destruction of the hermitage and the images of the Virgin Mary. It is known that the residents of the Butsènit tower had the privilege of detaining for three days the criminals who passed by. Another reference, dated March 1483, is that the Council of the Paeria prohibited pilgrimages to the hermitage due to the plague that plagued the city and as a measure to prevent its spread. In 1657, the image of the Virgin Mary was sculpted again, made of polychrome, like the previous one, and it is this one that is venerated today.

It is documented that, in 1676, a pious hermit lived there: Mateu Sió. In those days, in Butsènit, a priest always lived there who took care of the cult and offered accommodation to the pilgrims. In the 18th century, a two-storey building was built in front of the hermitage where the Butsènit Work room was located, which for a time served as the priest's home. In addition to the house and estate, the shrine had jewels and abundant ornaments.

During the 19th century, the set of buildings of the hermitage officially passed into lay hands. In the time of Charles III, in 1836, a law was enacted on the confiscation of ecclesiastical property, according to which all the properties of the monasteries and the Church passed into the hands of the State. In June 1846, possession of the hermitage was given to the Municipal Charity Board. In 1870, a more consensual status was reached, and the keys to the hermitage were in the hands of the priest, to whom they let stay in the house, some rooms on the first floor and the attic. Everything would end definitively in 1951, when, in view of the documentation kept by the Treasury, the City Council ceded the premises and the Butsènit estate to the bishopric free of charge.

Between 1918 and 1920, the municipal schools of Butsènit were opened. Its first teacher, Josep Casamajó i Palau, would have, in 1921, a commendable attitude of helping those who suffered the so-called Butsènit catastrophe, in which 33 people died.

At the beginning of 1938, the Francoist army was approaching Lleida and, faced with the danger of bombings and attacks, the Butsènit chapel was used as a temporary depository for the artistic funds expropriated by the republicans, including those of the diocesan museum. Nevertheless, in August of that same year, the army conquered Butsènite, and the artistic materials took them first to Lleida and then to Zaragoza, a city where they would remain until the end of the war. From this moment on, a period of confusion began regarding the return of the works to their owners.

From 1974 to the present day, various actions have been taken to restore and adapt the buildings. In 1986, the pavement of the hermitage was renewed and the wall, between it and the recambró, was conditioned in order to place the paintings made by the Lleida artist and good friend of Butsènit, Víctor Pérez Pallarés.