The church of the Lady of Las Lajas

Luckily, it had dried up by the time we reached The Lady of Las Lajas, an impressive Roman Catholic church built inside a canyon.  It looks like something you would expect to see in a Disney movie, and came as something of a shock after driving through epic scenery for most of the day!

The inspiration for the church's creation was a purported miraculous event that took place sone time between 1576 and the mid-eighteenth century (accounts differ!). The story goes that Amerindian Maria Meneses de Quiñones and her deaf-mute daughter Rosa were caught in a very strong storm.  They sought refuge between two lajas (slabs of stone), when, to Meneses' surprise, her daughter Rosa spoke for the first time claiming thay the Virgin Mary was calling her and pointing to a lightning-illuminated silhouette.  This apparition instigated popular pilgrimages to the site and occasional reports of miraculous healings.  An image appeared in the stone that was several feet wide and is still visible today.

The first shrine was built here in the middle of the 18th century from straw and wood.  It was replaced with a 7 metre long brick chapel in 1795/96.  In 1802, a new, larger shrine was built, which in turn was extended and connected to the opposite side of the canyon with a bridge in the second half of the 19th century.

The current church was built between January 1, 1916, and August 20, 1949, with donations from local churchgoers. It rises 100 metres from the bottom of the canyon and is connected to the opposite side of the canyon by a 50 metre tall bridge.

Ritchie dropped us off at the top of the canyon, and we all walked down to get a closer look at the church.  It’s certainly a sight to behold!  As soon as the light started to fade, the whole edifice was illuminated in brightly coloured lights!  One of our group commented that it was the same lighting as Blackpool Tower!!

We are at an altitude of 2900 metres here and will remain above 2000 metres for the next week. We definitely felt the effects as we walked up and down the hill.Read more