La Virgen de la Peña, patron saint of Fuerteventura, had her first hermitage in Malpaso, in the place where, according to tradition, the small and beautiful Flemish Gothic alabaster image of the patron saint appeared.
She arrived a few years after the conquest of the island, between 1430-1440. In the mid-16th century, this image was moved to its current sanctuary, in the Vega de Río Palmas.
It is possible that in 1593, when the Berber invasion of the Xaban arráez took place, the image was concealed and hidden in Malpaso to avoid its desecration, where it was later rediscovered.
In 1748 the hermitage was rebuilt a little away from the original cave of the apparition, which is where it remains today. It is a construction of traditional typology, made with stone and lime and covered with a mud roof.
