CATEDRAL DE MÁRMOL - CAPILLA DE MÁRMOL

The Cathedral, the Chapel and the Marble Grotto are geological and mineral formations of calcium carbonate produced by erosion (this precise phenomenon is called "marble rock"). They are located under three neighbouring islets of Lago General Carrera. The origin of this phenomenon is purely geological and is due to the deposition of calcareous sediments (370 million years ago). The passage of time and the erosion produced by the swell of the lake, on the rock, have removed all its impurities and have created these marvellous chapels declared "Sanctuaries of Nature" in 1994, one of the categories of protection envisaged in the Chilean legislation on national monuments. The existence of the chapels was first documented by the Italian-Argentinean explorer Clemente Onelli in his work Trepando los Andes. It tells the story of his trip to Argentina between 1896 and 1897, commissioned by the Argentine government as part of its exploration campaigns. A magnificent spectacle not to be missed, reminiscent of the verses of Rabindranath Tagore: " It is not the hammer that made these stones so perfect, but the water, with its softness, its dance and its song. Where hardness only destroys, softness succeeds in sculpting ". A very nice excursion, magnificent just before sunset. To get there, you can opt for an organized boat tour or go on board a kayak (a guide will accompany you all the same!).