Las Lajas Sanctuary
Lucindo Espinosa; J. Gualberto Pérez · Ipiales, Colombia · 1949
Las Lajas Sanctuary places a Gothic Revival church across a dramatic river canyon near Ipiales. Its architecture combines a bridge-like base, substantial vertical supports and a church body whose towers and pointed forms amplify the setting's height. Lucindo Espinosa was central to the twentieth-century building campaign. The approach makes the relationship between structure, cliff and pilgrimage route particularly clear. The sanctuary is best understood through a sequence of viewpoints rather than only the familiar distant photograph of the church above the river. Visiting: The sanctuary itself is generally free. Cable-car travel, museums and other optional facilities are separate costs.