The Santuario de Nuestra Señora de las Lajas – pilgrimage church of Our Lady of Las Lajas , is a Catholic minor basilica that was built in honor of the Nuestra Señora de las Lajas. It is located in the canyon of the Río Guáitara in Ipiales, in southern Colombia. It has been a popular pilgrimage destination since the 18th century.
The bridge over the canyon is 50 meters high and 17 meters wide. The height of the temple from the bottom of the canyon to the dome is 100 meters. The length of the main building of the church is 27.5 meters, and its width is 15 meters, at the very spot where a mute little girl would have miraculously found speech. Built between January 1916 and August 1949, it replaced a church which dated from the nineteenth century and became a basilica in 1954. In 2007, the newspaper El Tiempo, one of the main newspapers in Colombia, organized a competition to choose the 7 wonders of Colombia, and the Sanctuary of Las Lajas obtained the second place, only surpassed by the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá.
Access : Coordinates: 0.805333, -77.585989 / Las Lajas Cathedral is located southeast of the city of Ipiales, in the department of Nariño, in southern Colombia, 10 kilometers from the border with Ecuador.
Highlights :
- The legend : According to legend, in the middle of the 18th century, an Indian girl named Rosa, being deaf and dumb, suddenly announced that the Mother of God appeared to her (in the place where the church now stands), as a result of which Rosa regained her sight and gained hearing. So, the find was declared healing, and a string of pilgrims stretched to Colombia, and so “voluminous” that the cave could not withstand such an onslaught. By the end of the 18th century, the first chapel was erected on this site.
- The main relic of the church is still the icon on the rock, depicting the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus, on either side of which are Saints Francis and Dominic .The image of the Virgin Mary found in the cave was a very large painting on the stone: its height was three meters twenty centimeters, and its width was two meters and three centimeters. To preserve this holy image, a monk named Gabriel Villafuerte in the same 1754 began construction of the first thatched church in this area. Since then, this temple has been rebuilt and modernized several times. In 1769, the monk Luis Herrero began to build a second cathedral, which was built with the help of alms collected by the monk in Colombia and Ecuador. The construction of the second cathedral took seven years.
- The luxurious neo-Gothic temple serves as a bridge in a more global sense: the cathedral is a symbol of peace and harmony between the Ecuadorian and Colombian peoples. Not far from the church, on the rocks, you can find hundreds of tablets with thanks for healing and help.
- The neo-Gothic cathedral of Las Lajas, built on a bridge in the mountains of Colombia, is considered one of the 7 wonders of this country.
- The neo-Gothic style temple seems light and airy, especially when combined with its location on an arched bridge. Numerous turrets, narrow lancet windows make it look upward, as if ready to take off, and the contrast of dark stone and snow-white decor looks like lace.
- Fans of picturesque landscapes can visit the nearby cliff and look at the basilica and its surroundings from above – this view is simply impossible to forget.
- Admission to Las Lajas is free, the dress code for visiting is the same as for all Catholic churches.
Go next : The city of Ipiales is located in the extreme southwest of Colombia, in the department of Nariño, 5 kilometers from the border with Ecuador.
