Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
LA VIRGENCITA
Argentina's patron saint is a ubiquitous presence - you can spot her poster on
butcher-shop walls, her statue in churches throughout the country and her image
on the dashboards of taxis. She wears a triangular blue dress, stands on a half-
moon and radiates streams of glory from her crowned head.
In 1630 a Portuguese settler in Tucumán asked a friend in Brazil to send him an
image of the Virgin for his new chapel. Unsure what style of Virgin was required, the
friend sent two - including one of the Immaculate Conception. After setting out
from the port of Buenos Aires, the cart bearing the statues got bogged down near
the river of Luján and only moved when the Immaculate Conception was taken off.
Its owner took this as a sign, and left the statue in Luján so that a shrine could be
built there. The other statue continued its journey to the northwest.
Since then the Virgin of Luján has been credited with a number of miracles -
from curing tumors and sending a fog to hide early settlers from warring Indians,
to protecting the province from a cholera epidemic. She was rewarded for her
trouble in 1886 when Pope Leo XIII crowned her with a golden coronet set with al-
most 500 pearls and gems.
Every year millions of pilgrims from throughout Argentina visit Luján's basilica,
where the original 17th-century statue is still displayed, to honor the Virgin for her
intercession in affairs of peace, health, forgiveness and consolation. If you arrive
here during the massive pilgrimage on the first Sunday in October, you'll spot fam-
ilies of exhausted pilgrims snoozing in the square, enjoying barbecues by the river
and filling plastic bottles with holy water from the fountain.
Sights
Basílica Nuestra Señora de Luján
CHURCH
(crypt admission AR$10; basilica 8am-7pm, crypt 10:15am-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-6pm Sat & Sun)
Luján's undisputed focal point is this imposing neo-Gothic basilica, built from 1887 to
1935 and made from a lovely rose-colored stone that glows in the setting sun. The vener-
ated statue of the Virgin sits in the high chamber behind the main altar. Under the basilica
you can tour a crypt that's inhabited by Virgin statues from all over the world. Masses
take place in the basilica several times a day.
Complejo Museográfico
Enrique Udaondo
MUSEUM
