After visiting The Guatavita lagoon of El Dorado we headed further to see the famous cathedral made out of salt located right in the middle of a big salt mine.
It is a catholic church without official seat of a bishopric, which is really interesting for tourists, pilgrims and architects.
As it is built in the middle of the mine it is an architectal master piece and was in fact nominated for being one of the seven world wonders in 2007.
To get there you drive about 2 hours from Bogotá until you get to the little charming town of Zipaquirá.
There you search for the Parque de Sal, which not only counts with the cathedral but also shows a lot of information about mining, geology and sustainable treatment of these kind of things.
Entering the park for about 20 000 COP we went right to the entrance of the mine and got a tour in English (or Spanish) to the the tunnels of the actual mine.
Since Luis Ángel Arango had the idea in 1932 you can find several altars with benches on your way deeper in, which are organized like a cross way of Christ with its 14 stations.
He thought that it was a good way to give the miners a place to pray before they start their daily dangerouse work.
Every station has its own well shaped cross and unique details. The lightening was brought in later.
In the end of the tunnel you get to the dome, which symbolizes the sky. From here on you are actually already standing right inside the cathedral.
Right next to it you have a great view to the cathedrals altar and benches from upstairs.
So from here we went down and checked it out ourselves. The building is huge!
It measures 120 meters of longitud with a surface space of 5.500 m. The walls are 22 meters high and there is enough room for about 8000 people!
On the back you can find a lot of religiouse art made out of salt and marmor.
Here a small video to give you an idea of how it is to stand right inside this gigantic cathedral 60 meters below the surface :)
Nowadays the cathedral is not just visited by many tourists, but also still used for big events. Some people are actually booking it for their wedding or baptism.
When I was there, the pope was just about to arrive, so they had this big copy of his highness standing right in the middle of the building. - Of course I took a picture with him :D
After the visit of the main attraction there is the option to explore more of the mine, learn how the miners are working or buy some souvenirs.
Another beautiful place is a little lagoon of salt that is right in the middle of the tunnel on your way out!
All in all it was a beautiful experience to see that majestic place, but it bothered me a bit that they made it soo touristy and try to sell a lot.
So it is a nice place to see but not a must! :)
I hope you enjoyed reading my post and I am grateful for every Upvote, Resteem and Comment as you are supporting my world trip with it!
Cheers,
Liz
