Zipaquira: Mary and the Salt of the Earth

The First Marvel of Colombia

Salt miners built the old cathedral near Bogota from 1950-1954. The original idea was to build a little chapel for the miners so that they could give thanks to Our Lady for her protection.

Inaugurated in 1954, this cathedral was a marvel of nature and faith, but for safety reasons, the government closed the old cathedral and a new cathedral was built to the south rather than to the north of the mountain, and with deeper foundations than the first.

The Salt Cathedral

The new cathedral is divided into three levels. The lower level houses the Stations of the Cross and the old salt chapels. In the second level, there is the cupola, the narthex and the choir. Finally, up in the third level we find two little chapels and the large naves of the cathedral.

An oak tunnel takes the pilgrim down into the depths of the earth and is a transition from the eternal world to the interior world. The entrance is actually a huge crack in the salt, representing a journey from the material to the immaterial, from terrestrial concerns to spiritual ones; going inside the mountain under the steeple and the Great Cross.

The descent into the cathedral is slow, during this lapse the notion of time, light, heat, sound, color, wind and movement is diluted. It is a journey to a new interior vision, a mysterious underground world that invites the visitor to meditate, reflect and contemplate. It is an authentic and unique experience.

The Virgin of the Cave

Before arriving in the big nave, we find a penitential chapel containing the miners' statue of Our Lady called the Virgin of the Cave. There are three naves: the Nave of Life, the Nave of Birth and Baptism and the Nave of Death and Resurrection. In the last section, the visitor can pray quietly in the Holy Chapel. This chapel symbolizes the Resurrection and life beyond death. The floor represents the path from material to spiritual life: the path to eternity.

__________________________

Adapted from the official website:

www.catedraldesal.gov.co/Paginas/default.aspx