Colombia 2024, part 6 (Zipaquirá)
In the previous segment of the travel stories about my stay in Colombia in early 2024, I reached the point where I entered the mine housing the underground Salt Cathedral, for which the town of Zipaquirá, north of Bogotá, is famous. After an initial straight corridor resembling a tunnel that gently slopes downwards, you reach a mostly flat section, the entrance ramp, from where several underground "rooms" branch off to the left and right.
Namely, this space, a former mine, is organised not only to include the chambers of the underground church but also features 14 chapels dedicated to the Stations of the Cross – from the moment Jesus was condemned to death to the laying of his body in the tomb. According to tradition, there are 14 of these moments or situations, hence the number of chapels. For example, Jesus meets his holy mother, Jesus is helped by Simon to carry his cross, Jesus consoles the women of Jerusalem, Jesus is crucified, etc.
I don't know if these situations are symbolically depicted in these "chapels," which vary in size from smaller to quite large spaces (some resembling balconies overlooking a vast area where salt was once excavated), but I leisurely visited each one. Here are just a few photographs, not all. As seen in them, all these chapels are illuminated with strong coloured spotlights, while the colours change.
Since the cathedral itself is located approximately 200 m underground, occasionally from the heights or terraces along the route, one can catch glimpses of other rooms used for the cathedral's operations and for visitors' needs.
At the end of this entrance ramp, you reach a room where there is a dome. The cathedral, being constructed underground where it wasn't feasible to build a dome above the main nave – an essential architectural symbol of heaven – has a dome placed in one of the access rooms. This dome is 11 m high with a diameter of 8 m. When I arrived in that room, it was quite dark despite the illumination of the dome and I could barely manage to take a somewhat decent photograph.
Next, I came to the choir, which is located on a balcony directly overlooking the central nave of the cathedral. On the left side of the choir loft railing, there is a sculpture of Archangel Gabriel, who is God's messenger announcing God’s will to mankind, and according to tradition he also foretold the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ.
As can be seen from the previous photograph and also from the following one, the large cross located in the sanctuary area of the cathedral is also illuminated and these colours also change.
Next to this central choir and its balcony, there is another similar structure and from that balcony, you can see one of the side naves of the church.
The visiting route then leads towards the narthex, requiring a descent down a staircase. This part with the stairs is designed almost like a labyrinth: first, a broad staircase descends at an angle and then from the platform reached, one can proceed through staircases between high walls, with several of these "passageways" available.
In the photo above, you can see a sculpture of another angel positioned above that area with the narrow stairs and walls. In this case, it is Archangel Michael holding a scroll that reads, "You are the salt of the earth." Apart from the biblical symbolism these words carry, the setting in a salt mine is highly appropriate.
As for the narthex, first of all it is an architectural term used in Christian churches. Simply put, it is a room, akin to a closed porch, leading into the nave or main body of the church. In the case of the Salt Cathedral, the narthex would be a wide tunnel-like space accessed after descending the stairs I have mentioned earlier.
From this tunnel, side passages lead into the naves of the cathedral, while the walls are adorned with paintings of saints, most commonly the Virgin Mary, or with figures placed in niches.
As I later came to understand, one end of this tunnel leads to the commercial area and exit from the cathedral, which is visible in one of the previous photos. At the other end of the tunnel, near the mentioned stairs, there is the Virgin of Guasa Chapel (Capilla Virgen de Guasá).
Thanks to the excellent illumination of this space, on one wall I could clearly see the layers of rock salt that was mined here. It is worth noting that salt is actually derived from the mineral halite, which consists of sodium chloride (NaCl) and is commonly referred to as rock salt.
Now I entered the first nave the visitor encounters, which is the Birth Nave (Nave del Nacimiento), dedicated to the birth of Jesus. It is a vast hall that is 17 m high, 10 m wide and 80 m long. It can accommodate approximately 700 people.
The two most significant elements of this nave can be seen or at least glimpsed in the previous photograph. One is the Nativity scene (the illuminated area on the left of the picture), which includes sculptures made from sandstone.
The other important element is the "waterfall" made of salt at the bottom of the nave, illuminated in blue lights to further symbolise the Jordan River where Jesus was baptised.
By the way, it's worth mentioning that the Jordan River is anything but blue in reality. However, here this is all purely symbolic (see: https://www.svudapodji.com/en/jordan-3/ and https://www.svudapodji.com/en/jordan-4/).
From this nave, visitors can transition to the central nave either by returning through the narthex/tunnel or through one of the passages in the walls, as the naves are connected at multiple points by these passages.
So, the central nave is called the Nave of Life (Nave de la Vida). I haven't been able to find specific size details, but it is certainly the largest of the three naves and can accommodate between 800 and 900 people.
At the bottom of the nave, specifically within the sanctuary area, there is a 16-metre-high cross made of rock salt. Like the entire space, the cross is continuously illuminated with different colours.
Before reaching the pews, on the floor, one can see a relief that pays homage to Michelangelo and his famous work from the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City – the Creation of Adam.
The relief is made from Carrara marble, but with certain differences compared to the painted original. For instance, God's hand is three times larger than Adam's and there are symbols representing the four elements (fire, water, air and earth), among other details.
Now I returned to the entrance to use a video camera in order to capture what it looks like when entering the central nave from the narthex/tunnel.
So, just as I was about to talk about the massive columns visible in the nave, the lights went out, as announced, and a video projection started on the back wall where the cross and altar are located. Here's a shortened clip:
After this, I took a short walk through the central nave, heading towards the sanctuary area.
As for the columns, let me conclude the story I started in the first video clip. So, four massive columns – two in the front (closer to the narthex/tunnel) and two in the back (closer to the altar) – symbolise the four Evangelists. They are carved in situ from the rock that forms the walls between the naves, conveying the idea that the Evangelists have always been here and will remain here. You can see them more clearly in the next photograph I took from the direction of the altar towards the entrance of the nave.
If you look closely at the previous picture, you can spot the sculpture of Archangel Gabriel that I mentioned earlier, located within the choir loft.
The next step in my tour was to visit the third nave, the Resurrection Nave (Nave de la Resurrección), which is 17 m high, 10 m wide and 60 m long.
Here, on the right side, is the sculpture of the Pietà, which traditionally depicts the Virgin Mary cradling the dead Christ removed from the cross. What makes this version of the Pietà in the Salt Cathedral unique is that it includes three figures: Christ in the centre, Mary Magdalene on the left and Joseph of Arimathea on the right. Namely, all four Gospels mention that Joseph of Arimathea took down and buried Jesus' body after his crucifixion. As for the female figures, there are variations among the Gospels, but two also mention Mary Magdalene.
And this is where I completed the tour of the Salt Cathedral and its three naves, but on the same level and in close proximity, there were still more points of interest. Right after the formal cathedral area begins the purely commercial section.
I must admit that this seemed very vulgar to me. Perhaps I cannot understand the sentiments of believers and their need for shopping, but I do not like this level of commercialisation at all.
And what can be said about the next part that can also be visited for an additional fee: about a hundred metres from the cathedral, the altar, the largest underground cross in the world, paintings and figures of saints and archangels, and the Pietà, there is the Tutankhamon Museum???!!!
Yet, in the middle of the chaos of commercialism and the entirely nonsensical inclusion of the story of a historically insignificant Egyptian pharaoh, whose only "value" is that his tomb was found untouched and therefore full of gold objects (!!!), I found another (partially) interesting place. It is called the Water Mirror (Espejo de Agua). Here, there is a "pool" in the rock filled with water, illustrating the modern method of salt extraction from mines through dissolution in water and pumping. Since there are no activities in the water itself and no air currents or wind, the water surface is perfectly calm, creating a mirror effect that reflects the wooden platforms on the sides and the stone ceiling.
I was now ready to leave this former mine and the Salt Cathedral, but I had to wait a bit in line because I returned to the surface by "train" that has a limited number of seats.
Once I emerged onto the surface and into daylight, I realised I felt better than when I arrived here, so I walked down to the centre of Zipaquirá. It turned out to be a good idea because along the way, I could occasionally enjoy a very nice view – especially prominent was the actual cathedral in the town square.
Zipaquirá
Walking leisurely, I went to another important square, which is Independence Square (Plaza de la Independencia).
There are several restaurants and cafés there, and I wanted to have lunch somewhere. While I was looking for a place to sit down, I also occasionally took photos when I thought some details were particularly beautiful.
In the end, I decided on a restaurant where I ordered dishes that were part of the daily menu - chicken soup and chicken meat with various sides.
After this break, I headed towards the station where I wanted to catch a coach to Bogotá. Admittedly, I didn't go directly to the station, I wandered around a bit, but it was worth it. Again, from time to time, I came across beautiful and interesting scenes.
At one point, I arrived at a part of the city with several pastry shops, but I was actually quite full from lunch, so unfortunately, I didn't order or eat anything there.
By the time I arrived at the coach station, the fatigue started to set in again, but that was resolved once I settled down comfortably. Then I could relax and rest.
Because of the traffic, I arrived at the Portal del Norte station (Portal del Norte) with some delay, but since I wasn't in a rush anywhere, it wasn't a big deal for me. The only thing that mattered to me was to get back during daytime, which I did. However, another small issue came up again – I needed to buy a ticket for the city bus in the TransMilenio system, while I still wasn't sure how to do that.