Basilica de Suyapa

The Virgin of Suyapa is a carved wooden figure about six centimetres tall, found in a field in 1747, and she is the patron of Honduras. The basilica built for her in the twentieth century is a large blue-and-white church with stained glass on a hill above the capital, and the older colonial chapel where the image was kept still stands beside it. The image is small enough that visitors are often surprised, and it is displayed in a case above the altar. The feast in early February brings pilgrims from across the country.

What you actually see

• The image - a six-centimetre carved wooden Virgin above the altar.
• The basilica - a large blue and white twentieth-century church with extensive stained glass.
• The old chapel - the colonial church beside it where the image was originally kept.
• The February pilgrimage - the country's largest religious gathering.

When to go

Year round. The feast around 3 February is the pilgrimage peak and fills the whole hill. Sundays are busy with local worshippers. Mornings are quietest otherwise.

Honest expectations

The image is genuinely tiny and viewing it is from a distance in a case; visitors expecting a statue are surprised. This is an active shrine and behaviour should reflect it. The area around the basilica is ordinary suburb.

Nearby

Central Tegucigalpa is fifteen minutes northwest, and El Picacho is on the other side of the city.