The Las Lajas Sanctuary
The Las Lajas Sanctuary is a Roman Catholic minor basilica in the Guáitara River canyon near Ipiales, on a bridge over the water. Local churchgoers funded construction. Architect Lucindo María Espinosa Medina designed it; completed in 1949.
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The Las Lajas Sanctuary is a Roman Catholic minor basilica in the Guáitara River canyon near Ipiales, on a bridge over the water.
Local churchgoers funded construction. Architect Lucindo María Espinosa Medina designed it; completed in 1949.
A 50 m tall bridge connects the church to the opposite canyon side. Laja means flat sedimentary rock.
The image appears deep inside the stone surface.
A shrine has existed here since the middle of the 18th century. The first structure was straw and wood.
A brick chapel 7 m long replaced the original shrine in 1795/96. A larger version followed in 1802.
Pope Pius XII raised the site to a minor basilica on 30 August 1954. The decree was Templum per Decorum.
Pilgrims from Colombia and Ecuador visit the sanctuary. The site remains a destination for Christian worship in the canyon.
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