Las Lajas Cathedral
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In the remote mountains of southwestern Columbia, Las Lajas is one of the most enchantingly beautiful pilgrimage shrines in all the world. A scene of fairy tale splendor, the cathedral clings to the sides of a cliff above a swiftly running river in a mountain gorge. Two waterfalls surge from the jungle covered cliffs and plummet a hundred feet to the river below. Rains come and go and lingering mists hide the church with the deftness of a magician’s hands. In concert with the rumbling of flowing waters church bells echo across the mountain valleys.
According to local legends, in 1754 a woman named Maria Meneses used to walk from her home to the nearby town of Ipiales. One day a storm arose and Maria sought shelter in cave above the Guaitara River, where she began to pray. An image of Mary, as the Virgin of Santisima, appeared on a rock and over time this cave and image became the site of numerous miraculous healings. The cathedral of Las Lajas, a Gothic style structure built between 1915 and 1952, is much visited by pilgrims from throughout Colombia and Ecuador, especially on its primary holy day of September 16. The cathedral was designed so that the rock with the image of Mary is the high altar.
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Photo by Photography: Martin Gray
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