Zipaquirá

We went to see the underground cathedral made out of an old Salt Mine.

The story goes that the miners took it upon themselves and built an altar deep in the mine, this being such a devout country, and it developed in to what you see below over a period of decades.

You start by walking down the mine and out of each of the 14 mining sites, some of which are gigantic chambers from which many thousands of tons of salt has been pulled, they made a tribute to each of the 14 stations of the cross. Station 10 was particularly eerie with its recordings of choir voices appearing to come out of the void.

They stated the aim was to create a sense of abstract art in the way the stations were created and how they pertain to the story of the crucifixion. Another I found particularly impactful was the negative space cross representing when Christ's body was taken down from the cross, representing the void left behind in his absence.

At the bottom of the mine, some 600 feet below ground, are a tribute to the divine infant, and a massive, massive nave for the main cathedral hall.

The cross at the back stands 16 meters high, back lit in the usual stunning colors, and it really is a sight to see. The entire walk through took about 2 hours.

We've seem some incredible churches in our travels but I have to say this one really does stand out. The originality, the literal depth of the work to be done to create this are just jaw dropping.

And yes, we tasted the salt off the wall, and it was - salty.Leggi altro