FIESTA DE LA VIRGEN DE SUYAPA

A Catholic feast in honour of the patron saint of Suyapa. There are many stories about the discovery of the Virgin of Suyapa. The most widely accepted version is that of his miraculous discovery by peasant farmer Alejandro Colindres, at the end of January or early February 1747. After this first miracle, the family of Colindres began collecting funds to build a chapel. In 1925 Pope Pius XI proclaimed him as a Patron of Honduras under the title of Notre-Dame de Suyapa. In the 1950 s, a basilica was built near the chapel. Currently, the statuette of the Virgin is kept within the chapel, but every year, it moves to the Basilica of Suyapa, just east of Tegucigalpa, the day of its party, when crowds of people come from all of Honduras and from Central America in its honour.