San Sebastián exercises its patronage over the Villa de Murla. Lawyer against the plague and protector against inclement weather, he has his hermitage at the foot of Mount Caballo Verde from where the population is dominated. Possibly it dates back to the end of the 14th century when, after the plague that ravaged European populations, his devotion began to spread. It has been documented since the 16th century in the parish archive. At the time of the expulsion of the Moors (1609), we see it represented on the canvas of Jerónimo Espinosa next to the fortification of the Villa, since the last confrontations with the Moorish population sheltered in the Sierra de Alaguar took place here, as they narrate Gaspar Escolano and Damián Fonseca in their chronicles.
The hermitage was recently restored with the collaboration of all the neighbors, in the time of the parish of Ramón Martín Ramón, throughout fourteen Saturdays of voluntary peonage work and materials financed by collection. The bell of its belfry was donated by the parish of San Juan del Mercado in Valencia and its parish priest, Gaspar Navarro.
Its festival is celebrated on the Saturday closest to January 20, which is the day established by the saints. The traditional pilgrimage mounted in rumps has already been lost due to the lack of these; However, the ascent to the hermitage, either on foot along the old cavalry path, or by car along the modern path, is very popular on an endearing day that brings together the entire neighborhood and supporters in a day of extraordinary atmosphere with songs , ‘dolçaina i tabalet’, on the esplanade of the hermitage. After mass and picnic, the descent of the Saint takes place to be carried in procession, at sunset, through the streets of the town. With a dinner and verbena the party is brilliantly capped off.
