Zipaquirá and the Salt Cathedral

On Sunday I took the bus to Zipaquirá, a small town about 30 miles outside of Bogotá. The town is best known for its salt mine that produces over 700 tons of salt every month. Over a hundred years ago the salt miners erected several small chapels throughout the mine and would hold daily prayer services in these chapels to ask for God’s protection. Since then miners have built the massive Salt Cathedral, a functioning church that holds mass everyday inside the mine. Amazingly, this underground place of worship can accommodate more than 8400 worshippers and has been used for numerous weddings, concerts, and conventions. Nowadays, miners spend their nights extracting salt from the mountainside and allow visitors (like me) to wander around the mine’s labyrinthine tunnels during the day.

Aside from the impressive Salt Cathedral, Zipaquirá is a very quiet and peaceful town. I especially enjoyed wandering around its narrow, cobblestone streets and taking pictures of the brightly painted homes and shops. You can view some of my pictures in my Colombia Photo Gallery.