Tuesday 30 May 2006

Catedral de Sal

On Monday, one of Colombia’s 18 annual long weekends - I told you this was a remarkable country! We took a family trip to the quaint village of Zipaquira, just north of Bogotá, to visit the famous Salt Cathedral. This underground cathedral, which is a contender for the eighth wonder of the modern world, was chiseled out of a former salt mine. Cathedral doesn’t really describe it, it’s more like a catholic theme park with hidden passages, waterfalls of salt, optical illusions, brightly painted sculptures of saints and of course a conference room and gift shop spread over a 1.5km walk. But jokes aside, it is a very special place and I can only imagine how moving it would be to attend Mass there, 180 meters underground, in the huge main cathedral; the echoes of the singing choir - positioned on a salt balcony 30 meters above; the glow of candles reflecting off the white walls in otherwise complete darkness; the pungent smell of decomposing salt and the knowledge that millions of people have walked and prayed in this room before you: magical.
(The photos are mainly of Zipaquira, see the weblink for pictures of the cathedral.)







1 comment:

Anonymous said...

My angel it looks like an awesome site - I'm so happy you're able to tour around a bit - Cata if you ever read this, I'd love to show you the Cango Caves one day, equally impressive, unfortunately without the spiritual connection Im guessing makes the Catedral de Sal something special. - Bokkie you'll recall my mentioning the hollow Marble mountain I stumbled in/on to in Dhan Nhang, Viet - similar sorta vibes I guess, and Im stoked you got to experience it. I am resigned to wallow in a quagmire of jealousy, given your awesome travelesque exploits vs the corporation of Barry. (Jani if you ever read this, you too will have noticed that that concoction of a word up there is a mere smidgen-like 8 letters away, give or take an Oxford dictionary, from "burlesque." S) I miss you heaps Goldie, lekker slaap, ek moet werk vir my kos. Miskien ons huis. Wie weet?