Day 296 – The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Most visited Catholic Site in the World
Today we walked from Hotel Villa de Mar to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It was really easy to walk there, as the hotel was next to a main road called Calz de Guadalupe. The road is divided in two by a walking path that ends at the Basilica. I would assume it’s used for religious processions by the church.
Along the way, we stopped to have brunch at Café Quetzalcafeh. We had a nice meal and later found out that the lady making the food, was actually the chef’s sister, who is a lawyer. The chef had stepped out for a bit, only arriving after we had finished eating. The food was still nice.
Calz de Guadalupe pedestrian path in between the streets
The Lady of Guadalupe Complex
The site is free to enter and it has several churches, chapels and a museum. The Lady of Guadalupe is the patron saint of Mexico, and you will see pictures of the lady all over the place. The grounds are very large, and if you look around you might notice all the buildings look like they are on an angle…they are actually sinking. This is something to do with Mexico City being built on a former lake.
The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe
The first stop we went to was the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which is enormous. The current building was built in 1974 and completed 2 years later. It can hold 50,000 people. The previous building was started in the 16th century, but was only completed at the end of the 17th century. Right at the altar is the famous image that appeared on the cloak of Juan Diego. The design of the place is ingenious. From inside the church, you can’t see the hundreds of people looking at the cloak from below.
However, three rows of travelators are set up below, so that visitors can have a close look at the cloak, but there is always a constant flow. A really cool idea that should be mandatory at sites all around the world.
“The basilica is the most visited Catholic pilgrimage site in the world, and the world’s third most-visited sacred site.”
https://www.travelandleisure.com/slideshows/worlds-most-visited-sacred-sites
We saw signs showing English tours, and when we asked an information kiosk, they told us to walk around the building. When we were walking around the building, security told us to turn around. We abandoned looking for the tour after this.
Museo de la Basilica
Next we went to the museum called Museo de la Basilica. The museum has a 10 MXN / $0.75 AUD entrance fee per person. The downside is that all the information is only in Spanish. There were some nice religious artefacts and images, but we couldn’t get an in depth knowledge, due to our basic language skills.
Picture of the site from 1853
Capilla del Cerrito
Following the museum, we walked up a small path to the Capilla del Cerrito. This is said to be the actual site, where the Lady of Guadalupe appeared to Juan Diego in 1531.
View of the Basilica from the chapel
Gardens / Market
Then we walked down some gardens to statues by a water feature. Around here, are a few shops selling food and drinks. Just outside the complex is a small market selling religious souvenirs. The items appeared cheaper than the gift shop in the Basilica.
Capilla del Pocito
The next chapel, Capilla del Pocito was small in comparison, but had a beautiful dome structure which was decorated.
The grounds
There were 3 more churches and a bell tower. Out of these, the Templo Expiatorio A Cristo Rey, was my favourite due to the massive columns and decorations.
We then headed back along Calz de Guadalupe to our hotel. After a rest, we had dinner across the road at La Kafeta. The thunderstorms from Miami had followed us to Mexico so we didn’t want to venture far.
