SALT CATHEDRAL OF ZIPAQUIRA
Wonder carved in stone

First it was daylight, then darkness. Gradually multicolor phosphorescent light breaks through and illuminates the walls of Zipaquirá Salt Mine, a monumental piece of architecture carved by hand mining and converted into a temple of beauty.

Before entering, the first thing you see is the flag square where the statue of the Virgin of Guasá (meaning salt and water), the patron saint of miners who have your feet a miner. In the Ceremonial also the Cardinal Cross, the monument mining, bell tower and water sources.

• The mine lighting dazzles tourists.

This portentous salt mine is located in the town of Zipaquirá, department of Cundinamarca, only 48 kilometers from Bogota. It is embedded in the Cerro Del Zipa (Indian supreme leader), to 2,652 m and has an average temperature of 14 º C.

•  First Colombian Wonder

This attractive underground has received over 13 million visitors worldwide both. Monthly him attend more than 10 000 foreign tourists and about 40 thousand Colombians. Its structure, precise blend of engineering and history was declared the First Wonder of Colombia on February 4, 2007.

In 1995 he inaugurated the new headquarters of the salt mine, given the instability of the first mine. This new building is 180 meters underground. To build it extracted 250,000 tons of rock salt. This mine is the largest reserve of rock salt in the world.

By accessing the mine ore you can smell and darkness takes possession of everything. Then, a set of lights Check and rock tunnels carved Stations of the Cross house. At the end there is access to three ships: the birth and baptism, that of life and death and resurrection, each with an altar.

Each of the ships has beautifully carved sculptures by miners and sculptors among which stands out the Mercy, whose face has strong indigenous features, honoring Muiscas who first used the fruit of salt. They are also the Guardian Angel carved in 1950 by Italian sculptor Ludovico Consort and the huge cross Narthex.

• The Salt Mine pleaded Colombia 1st Wonder in 2007.

Another major attraction is the mirror of water, above a brine (place for saturation of salt), whose surroundings are illuminated to be reflected in static water and give a fascinating optical effect which gives the impression of swimming in a vacuum underground. The mine has bilingual and multilingual guides to foreign tourists.

The exploitation of this mine has a history that runs pre-Columbian times, through the colonial and Republicans to continue making history today. Were the ancient Muisca Indians who first benefited from this enormous reservoir of salt and became one of the most prosperous pre-Hispanic societies of their time.

This salt accumulation in the middle of the Eastern Cordillera Colombia was formed 70 million years ago when there was still an inland sea that covered the entire region. In forming the Cordillera Oriental, that sea dried and left a huge salt deposit buried by earth and solidified mud to reach the rock salt formation.

• The salt deposit has been mined since pre-colonial, by Muiscas.

The Spanish declared "White City" by decree and later colonial salt that financed the campaigns of Nariño and Bolivar liberators that led to the independence of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, for 200 years. Decades later the writer and Nobel Literature Gabriel García Márquez began his life in the lyrics, when he lived in Zipaquirá.

The city retains many colonial era buildings and a main square (Plaza Mayor or commoners), protected by the city. The architecture is notable for its balconies, kneeling windows and thick walls. In line with neo-colonial Moorish influence is the Hospice El Libertador, very unique built in 1948.