Las Lajas Sanctuary
Introduction
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rosary of Las Lajas is a temple "Church (building)") and basilica for the Catholic worship and veneration of Our Lady of Las Lajas. This sanctuary is located in the municipality of Ipiales, near Potosí "Potosí (Nariño)"), in the department of Nariño "Nariño (Colombia)"), in the south of Colombia and has been a pilgrimage and tourism destination since the 19th century.
Geographic location
The sanctuary is located in the canyon of the Guáitara River, in the Las Lajas district of the municipality of Ipiales, seven kilometers from the municipal seat, in the department of Nariño "Nariño (Colombia)"), Colombia, 10 km from the border with Ecuador.
Architectural aspects
The current building, built at the beginning of the century, replaced a chapel that dated from the century and is a gray and white stone church in a neo-Gothic style, in imitation of the Gothic of the century, composed of three naves built on a bridge with two arches that crosses the river and acts as an atrium or plaza of the basilica joining it with the other side of the canyon.
The height of the temple, from its base to the tower, is 100 meters, and the bridge measures 50 meters high by 17 meters wide and 20 meters long.
The main building measures 27.50 m deep by 15 m wide. Inside, the three naves are covered with cross vaults. It has fiberglass mosaics and during the day, its illumination is given by the light that filters through the stained glass windows made by the German Walter Wolf. The background or apse of the three naves is the natural stone wall of the canyon and in the central nave the image of the Virgin of the Rosary painted by an unknown author on a flagstone "Laja (rock)" stands out. The base of the temple itself, in addition to the two semicircular arches of the bridge, is a crypt in imitation of the Romanesque style, with three naves covered with barrel vaults with an ashlar stone structure and which is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.[1].
On the outside there are three towers that end in spiers decorated with clumps and fronds "Fronda (Architecture)"); windows, rose windows, flying buttresses, buttresses and pinnacles.