BASÍLICA DE LA VÍRGEN DE LA CARIDAD DEL COBRE

This basilica, built in 1927 in the heart of a valley surrounded by copper mines(cobre), is in a way the counterpart of our national Lourdes in Cuba. The crowd of street vendors selling statuettes and rosaries with the image of the Virgin underlines the importance of the phenomenon. Pilgrims flock to honor the Virgin, according to the Christian rite, or the goddess of love Oshún, for the followers of the santería. A simple glance at the ex-voto room is enough to give the measure of the fervor that surrounds the patron saint of Cuba. On September 8, the day of the fiesta of the Caridad del Cobre, pilgrims from Santiago and the surrounding area leave on foot, early in the morning, to reach the place. Some climb the steps on their knees. The believers put their vows to the Virgin in transparent urns at the altar and they are usually filled to the brim. Newlyweds and their families also regularly come to the Basilica to place a bouquet of flowers in the good graces of Our Lady.

Ernest Hemingway, who lived in Havana for twenty years, even offered his Nobel Prize to the Virgin of Santiago and this official declaration can be seen under glass on a wall, not far from the altar. Pope John Paul II visited in 1998. More recently, Pope Francis came to celebrate a mass in this basilica during his official visit in September 2015.