THE BASÍLICA DE NUESTRA SEÑORA DE LOS ÁNGELES

Jennifer Castillo Solís

Natalia Molina

Jenny Park

T

he most important site in Cartago – and the most

venerated religious site in the country – this basilica

exudes grace, with fine stained-glass windows, hand-

painted interiors and ornate side chapels featuring carved

wood altars. Though the structure has changed many

times since 1635, when it was first built, the relic that it

protects remains unharmed inside.

OUTSIDE OF BASILICA

L

a Negrita (the Black Virgin) is a small (less than 1m tall), representation of the Virgin

Mary, found on this spot on August 2, 1635 by a native woman. As the story goes, when

she tried to take the statuette with her, it miraculously reappeared back where she’d

found it. Twice.

S

o the townspeople built a shrine around her. In 1824, she was declared Costa Rica’s

patron Virgin. She now resides on a gold, jewel-studded platform at the main altar.

Each August 2, on the anniversary of the statuette’s miraculous discovery, pilgrims

from every corner of the country (and beyond) walk the 22km from San José to the

basilica. Many of the penitent complete the last few hundred meters of the pilgrimage

on their knees.

ON WITH THE SHOW