The Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá

Salt has been mined at Zipaquirá since long before the Spanish arrived, and miners carved a chapel underground for their own use. The present cathedral, opened in 1995 after the older one was closed for safety, sits about 200 metres below the surface in tunnels cut from halite. The route begins with fourteen stations of the cross, each a chamber with a cross carved in relief or hollowed into the rock, lit in blue, violet and amber, and ends in a main nave with a cross illuminated from behind so it appears to float. The scale is genuinely cathedral-like, the acoustics are strange and dead, and the whole thing is cool and faintly salty on the lips. Services are held on Sundays.

History

The Muisca mined the halite here from the 5th century BC, and Alexander von Humboldt, visiting in 1801, judged the deposit larger than the great salt mines of Spain, Switzerland, Poland and Tyrol. Around 1932 miners carved a sanctuary underground for their prayers before work, and from 1950 a larger Salt Cathedral was built, inaugurated on 15 August 1954 and dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary, patron of miners, with three naves and a monumental cross; structural and safety problems in the working mine led the authorities to close it in September 1992. The architect Roswell Garavito Pearl won the competition for a new cathedral, built from 1991 below the old one in caves left by earlier mining, and it was inaugurated on 16 December 1995 (Wikipedia, Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá).

What to look for

• The stations of the cross - fourteen carved chambers descending through the mine.
• The main nave and illuminated cross - the central chamber, lit from behind.
• The salt-cut domes - side chapels carved directly from halite.
• Zipaquirá old town - a colonial square and market above ground.

When to go

Any time; it is underground and unaffected by weather, which makes it a reliable rainy-day option from Bogotá. Sundays bring services and the largest crowds. The weekend tourist train from Bogotá is a slow but pleasant way to arrive.

Practical notes

The lighting is heavily theatrical and the effect divides people, with some finding it moving and others finding it closer to a themed attraction than a church. The guided route moves in groups and cannot be done at your own pace at busy times. It is cool underground, around 14 degrees, so bring a layer.

Nearby

Bogotá is an hour south; Guatavita lake, source of the El Dorado story, lies east.

Key facts