Las Lajas Sanctuary, Catholic basilica in Ipiales, Colombia
Las Lajas Sanctuary is a basilica in grey and white stone that spans a canyon at 2,600 meters altitude, joined to both sides of the gorge by a 50-meter bridge. The building rises directly from the cliff face, anchored into the rock walls of the canyon.
Construction began in January 1916 and lasted until August 1949, replacing a smaller church from the previous century. The site marks the spot where a mute girl is said to have regained her ability to speak.
The stepped walls flanking the sanctuary entrances are covered with ex-votos, thanksgiving plaques and orthopedic devices left as testimony to healings attributed to Our Lady of Las Lajas. The name Lajas comes from the flat sedimentary flagstones of the Guáitara canyon where the image was found.
The shrine lies 7 km from Ipiales town centre in the Las Lajas district, about 10 km from the Ecuador border, on the canyon floor of the Guáitara River. Access is by a long staircase that climbs the slope beside the church, so allow time for the descent and the return climb.
The image of the Virgin of the Rosary at the high altar is painted on a flat flagstone (laja), the rock type that gives the site its name, and is said to extend several feet into the stone. No one knows who painted it; believers hold that it appeared without human hand.
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