La Catedral De Sal

Felipe y Angel
Originally uploaded by Phil Chan.

I’d heard about La Catedral De Sal (Salt Cathedral) from a few people. A cathedral carved out of salt mine in a town called Zipaquirá an hour north of Bogotá. I imaged it like old temples you see in the Middle East, carved into the face of an ancient mountain, but what I found was very different.

I headed up there with Aura, enjoying the scenic trip which went through some of the towns I was planning on visiting when I leave Bogotá. It’s really amazing how close things are that look hours apart on the map. A quick taxi ride took us into the mountains that the town is built around and the queue of tourists waiting the get into the cathedral. We quickly spied a tour group of foreigners, and I amazed Aura by picking their German-ness from 10 metres away.

La Catedral De Sal is a series enormous chambers set in the old section of a salt mine that is still operated today. It’s close to pitch black in many parts, though strategically placed lighting helps you get around and creates a great atmosphere. The passageway to the actual cathedral catalogs the last moments of Christ on his way to his crucifiction (SP?) and there are a lot of places to pray in front of impressive crosses carved from salt or granite. The main chambers of the cathedral are enormous and completely awe inspiring. There are three main chambers, each 15 to 20 metres high with huge columns and various statues spotted around.

Walking into the first chamber, I was filled with an overwhelming feeling that was hard to describe. Far from religious, it was more that we really can do amazing things when we want to… it just seems a pity that we don’t do more good than we do. Oh well…

After spending a couple of hours wandering around, taking far too many pictures, we checked out the town of Zipaquirá and had some lunch. The plaza in Zipaquirá was really beautiful, with a cool church and a number of nice colonial style buildings. After another hour or so strolling around the town we headed back to Bogotá where I hung out with Señora Dafne’s family some more, which was really nice.