La Candelaria and Raquira

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Travelling through a desert landscape we reach La Candelaria, where a monastery of the same name stands, belonging to the Order of the Recollect Augustinians, a 17^th century building which provides lodging and has an important collection of colonial art.

We then head towards Raquira, the “land of pots” of the Indians, and Colombia’s premier producer of pottery. The only thing to do is to stroll around the only street filled with souvenir and craft shops: here you find every thing from hammocks, to pottery, bracelets and sombreros. Craft is not really our taste. Apart from that the city has nothing special.

We pass through Chiquinquira, a small Indian town of 50,000 inhabitants. It was a site of worship for pre-Hispanic Indians; today it is known as the “Religious Capital of Colombia”, famous for pilgrimages to the Virgin of Chiquinquira – named patron of Colombia – whose basilica was visited by Pope John Paul II in 1985.

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