El Cobre Sanctuary - 15 photos
The Sanctuary on its beautiful landscape
Sunflowers for the Virgin, patron saint of Cuba
The Sanctuary on its beautiful landscape
"Cachitas" (popular name of the virgin) made by local artisans.
Sanctuary entrance
Sanctuary interiors
Virgen de La Caridad del Cobre, patron saint of Cuba
El Cobre town, view from the Sanctuary
Sanctuary exteriors
Copper mines
San Antonio Ma Guaret. Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba by the middle of the XIX Century. Canonized by Pio XII Pope in 1950.
Fr. Valentin Zubizarreta. Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba by the beginning of the XX Century
The "Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Cobre", high on a hill 20 Km northwest of Santiago de Cuba on the old road to Bayamo, is Cuba's most sacred pilgrimage site. In santería, La Virgen de La Caridad is associated with the beautiful orisha Ochún, the Yoruba goddess of love and dancing who is represented by the color yellow.
The copper mine at El Cobre has been active since pre Columbian times and was once the oldest European operated mine in the western hemisphere. It was shut in 2000 and the villagers, former workers of the mine, now offer shiny chalcopyrite stones from the mine. They sell flower wreaths and candles as offerings for the Virgin and miniature "Cachitas", the popular name for her.
