Costa Rica honors a tiny stone statue found in the woods in 1635
A humble discovery by a young girl in 1635 led to the creation of Costa Rica's most sacred tradition, centering on a small stone figurine known as 'La Negrita.'
In 1635, a young woman named Juana Pereira found a tiny stone statue of the Virgin Mary holding the Christ child while gathering wood in the forest. According to legend, every time she took the figure home, it miraculously reappeared back on the original rock in the woods. This was interpreted as a divine sign to build a shrine on that very spot.
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