La Villa
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Photo: Cesar Wojtowski/Shutterstock
▌With over 10 million visitors a year, it is hard to overstate the significance of this site honoring the Virgin of Guadalupe. History has it that in 1530, the Virgin Mary appeared here to the peasant Juan Diego and asked him to build her a temple.
When the bishop requested proof, her image miraculously materialized on his cloak.
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The icon is now on display in the Basilica de Guadalupe. Pilgrims flock to see it from all over, many traveling by foot or even on their knees.
▟ Located in the Gustavo Madero neighborhood, La Villa is composed of a number of churches and other buildings. The Capilla del Cerrito was one of the first chapels built here, high on Tepeyac hill where Mary first appeared.
Today it displays a variety of depictions of the Virgin. The Capilla de Indios is the chapel that was home to Juan Diego and held the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe before the cloak was moved to the first Basilica.
▟ The Temple and Convent dedicated to the Capuchina religious order is now home to the Basilica Museum, which holds almost 4,000 works of art from the colonial era.
There are works from important painters of the time, as well as sculpture, jewelry, gold and silver pieces, and an extensive collection of ex-voto offerings.
Both the buildings and their contents offer insight into the importance of the icon.
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Photo: Chad Zuber
▌Rising behind the expansive Plaza Mariana, where the faithful gather, is the current Basilica, formally named the Insigne y Nacional Basílica de Santa María de Guadalupe. The round structure with a green copper roof—that some say resembles a cloak—was designed by the architect Pedro Ramírez Vázquez in 1974.
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The open sanctuary, which can hold 10,000 worshippers, does not have interior columns, cleverly allowing the image of the Virgin to be seen from any vantage point while simultaneously being light enough to prevent the church from sinking into the soft soil.
▟ Juan Diego’s cloak is displayed behind the modernist altar, under a large cross and beside a massive organ with 12,000 pipes. Moving walkways allow visitors to see the sacred image up close.
While there is a constant stream of devotees, the entire area fills to the bursting the 12th of December, the day dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe.
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Whether you visit for spiritual or cultural reasons, you are sure to be impressed.
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