Case file · Apparition / miracle
The Cristo de Mayo, Santiago
During the great Santiago earthquake of 13 May 1647, the crown of thorns on a wooden crucifix in the Church of San Agustín is said to have slipped down to the figure's neck, where it could never be put back.
1647 CE · -33.44, -70.65 · status: legend
The account
The crucifix survived the earthquake, which destroyed most of the city. It has been carried in procession every 13 May since. Legend links it to La Quintrala, said to have owned it and to have cast it out of her house because its gaze troubled her.
The sceptical view
Earthquake-shaken statues can shift, and the link with La Quintrala appears only in later tradition.