Three Women of La Rogavita - San Juan, Puerto Rico
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 18° 27.939 W 066° 07.181
19Q E 804210 N 2044127
The sculptural group called La Rogavita is located at Plazuela de la Rogativa on Caleta de las Monjas in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Waymark Code: WM12375
Location: Puerto Rico
Date Posted: 02/15/2020
Views: 2
La Rogavita is a famous bronze sculpture by Lindsay Daen that depicts an historical event that happened in San Juan in 1797. A bronze plaque at the concrete base of the sculpture is inscribed:
LA ROGAVITA
LINDSAY DAEN
DURANTE EL ASEDIO INGLES DE 1797 LAS
MUJERES DE LA CIUDAD ENCABEZADAS POR
EL OBISPO, CELEBRARON UNA ROGAVITA PARA
IMPETRAR DE SANTA URSULA Y LAS ONCE MIL
VIRGENES LA LIBERACION DE LA CAPITAL.
LA LEYENDA ATRIBUTYE A ESE HECHO LA
RETIRADA DE LAS TROPAS BRITANICAS.
LA ROGAVITA
LINDSAY DAEN
DURING THE ENGLISH SIEGE OF 1797 THE
WOMEN OF THE CITY HEADED BY
THE BISHOP CELEBRATED A ROGAVITA TO
BESEECH SANTA URSULA AND THE ELEVEN THOUSAND
VIRGINS FOR THE LIBERATION OF THE CAPITAL.
THE LEGEND ATTRIBUTES TO THAT FOR MAKING THE
WITHDRAWAL OF THE BRITISH TROOPS.
The Bishop is the central figure of this sculpture. He is dressed in the ecclesiastical robes and mitre hat of a bishop and is holding his pastoral staff in his right hand. He is surrounded by three women wearing dresses and carrying torches over their heads and crosses in their hands. The lead woman appears to be topless.
Background information:
On April 17, 1797 Sir Ralph Abercromby's led a fleet of 68 vessels with a force of 7,000 approached San Juan. The desperate Spanish Governor of the island, Field Marshal Don Ramón de Castro y Gutiérrez, ordered the Bishop of San Juan, then Manuel Jiménez Pérez, to form a Rogativa, a large procession of women carrying torches and bells led by the bishop to pray for divine intersection to stop the British advance.
According to legend, British mistook the torches and noise of the Rogavita as evidence of the arrival of reinforcements. They thought they were being outnumbered by reinforcements and thus Abecromby ordered the withdrawal of his troops and the city was saved.