Vamos Chicas

The Cathedral built below the salt

Maria’s car dashboard is adorned with religious trinkets and as she swerves through the morning traffic in Bogota, the Virgin of Guadalupe swings from her rear-view mirror. She is one of the catholics who make up 90% of Colombia’s population.

The Catholic faith is evident everywhere in the country, but particularly on the road, in vehicles like Maria’s car, which double as shrines. Jump into any collectivo and you will find the Virgin Mary sitting up front or Jesus on the bus wing mirrors.

Maria is driving us an hour and a half out of Colombia’s capital to a Roman Catholic church, built 200m underground in an old salt mine. It turns out that this is a good day to venture below; Bogota is grey and drizzly and a little chilly after a week of bright sunshine.

As we make our way down to the Zipaquira Salt Cathedral, we pass groups of tourists in bright yellow hard hats. We opt out of the ‘miner for a day tour’, choosing to make our way around the holy space solo. We assume that this is the sort of place which speaks for itself.

The cathedral is a labyrinth of alcoves and tunnels where crucifixes are carved into the salt walls and lit up by intense pinks and blues. The space is huge, not cramped and claustrophobic like I had imagined it to be. The 14 chapels along the way, which represent the last steps of Christ, each bear a unique salt cross. You are able to really appreciate how this holy space brought miners closer to their God.

The giant crucifix standing in the cathedral’s main chamber steals the show. The light show is spectacular - the salt crucifix turns from pink to blue then to a fiery orange and at its centre flashes a red heart. At this point, you should grab a seat on one of the pews and just sit and watch this spectacular display.

People complain that the salt cathedral is tacky and I can understand why. There is a whole area of this church dedicated to shops selling cheap and cheerful trinkets and there is even an arcade claw machine. Playing on the tannoy is a pretty cheesy version of Ava Maria and tour groups are given the opportunity to have their photo taken in miner’s garb, but all these aspects need to be taken with a pinch of salt!

If you are staying in Bogota, it would be a sin not to visit the Zipaquira Salt Cathedral - in my humble opinion, it is a modern wonder of the world.