Las Lajas Sanctuary

라스 라하스 성당

The Sanctuary of Las Lajas is a Catholic church built inside the canyon of the Guáitara River, near the town of Ipiales in southern Colombia. It is a neo-Gothic basilica, and it was built right onto a bridge across the gorge, so it seems to rise straight out of the rock about 100 metres above the canyon floor.

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At a glance

Country: Colombia
Location: Ipiales, Colombia
Built: 1949
Type: Religious building

Quick answers

Where is Las Lajas Sanctuary?

Las Lajas Sanctuary is in Ipiales, Colombia.

When was Las Lajas Sanctuary built?

Las Lajas Sanctuary was built in 1949.

A neo-Gothic basilica built on a bridge across the Guáitara River gorge, rising about 100 m from the canyon floor.

It is a famous pilgrimage site for Christians from both Colombia and neighbouring Ecuador. The shrine is dedicated to the Virgin Mary as Our Lady of the Rosary, and a colourful image of Mary and the Child Jesus on the rock wall behind the altar is the heart of the place.

The legend of the stone

The story goes back to about 1754. According to tradition, an Indigenous woman, María Mueses de Quiñones, and her daughter Rosa, who could not hear or speak, were caught in a strong storm and took shelter between the lajas, which are flat slabs of stone. Rosa suddenly said that a lady was calling her, and pointed to a figure lit by lightning above the rock. Believers say the picture on the stone formed without human hands.

Building the church on a bridge

The first shrine was made from straw and wood. It was replaced by a small brick chapel in 1795 and 1796, then by larger buildings, and in the later 1800s a bridge joined the shrine to the opposite side of the canyon. The church you see today was built from 1916 to 1949 with donations from local churchgoers. Pope Pius XII crowned the image in 1951 and made the shrine a minor basilica in 1954.

Fun facts

The word laja is Spanish for a flat slab of stone.
The church is built on a bridge across a gorge, about 100 metres above the canyon floor.
The first shrine here, from the mid-1700s, was made of straw and wood.