Catedral de Sal de Zipaquirá

About Catedral de Sal de Zipaquirá

📜 History

The salt mines of Zipaquirá have a history dating back to the 5th century, when the Muisca indigenous communities exploited the region's salt deposits. The salt deposits formed approximately 200 million years ago and emerged to the surface 30 million years ago. In 1801, the scientist Alexander von Humboldt visited and documented the mines; in 1816, the first modern mining shaft was opened under the direction of Jacobo Wiesner. In 1932, Luis Ángel Arango, then director of the Banco de la República, conceived the idea of building a chapel inside the galleries to serve as a place of worship for the workers. The construction of the first underground cathedral began on October 7, 1950, and was inaugurated on August 15, 1954. Due to the risk of structural collapse, this first structure was closed in September 1992. In 1990, the Sociedad Colombiana de Arquitectos called for a competition that received 44 proposals; the winning project corresponded to the Bogotá architect Roswell Garavito Pearl. The new cathedral began construction in 1991 and was inaugurated on December 16, 1995.

🏛️ Architecture

The current cathedral is located 180 meters below the surface, excavated in the halite rock —rock salt— of a salt dome. The design was the work of architect Roswell Garavito Pearl, selected among 44 proposals in the 1990 competition, with the technical direction of Jorge Enrique Castelblanco Reyes. The complex is organized into three sections representing the birth, life, and death of Christ, articulated by a processional gallery with the fourteen stations of the Via Crucis. The central nave houses a 16-meter-high cross supported by four cylindrical columns symbolizing the four evangelists. The dome, whose concavity evokes the Christian heaven, crowns the central space. The baptistery is symbolically represented by a waterfall, and a grotto houses the nativity scene. Among the artworks, the marble sculpture 'La Creación del Hombre' by artist Carlos Enrique Rodríguez Arango stands out. The first cathedral, a project by architect José María González and inaugurated in 1954, measured 120 meters in length, 22 meters in height, and had a capacity for 8,000 people on a surface area of 5,500 m².

⭐ Key Facts

The Salt Cathedral is one of the most visited Catholic places of worship in Colombia and the main reference for religious and cultural tourism in the country. In 2007, through a national popular voting contest to choose the seven wonders of Colombia, it obtained first place. Its candidacy was also proposed among the New Seven Wonders of the Modern World. It integrates the Parque de la Sal, a 32-hectare cultural complex dedicated to mining, geology, and natural resources. Ecclesiastically, it belongs to the Diocese of Zipaquirá and holds Sunday masses at 12:00 and 13:30 hours. The first cathedral was dedicated to Nuestra Señora del Rosario, patron saint of miners; the current one worships the crucified Christ. The mining and religious tradition of the site is inseparable: the space was born as a place of prayer for underground workers and today receives visitors from all over the world who come for both the cultural tour and the liturgical services.

Located 180 meters below the surface of Zipaquirá, less than half an hour from Bogotá, the cathedral offers a tour through galleries carved in salt with centuries of mining history. Those who approach can attend Sunday services, contemplate the sculptures in halite and marble, or walk through the stations of the Via Crucis in an atmosphere of quiet and recollection.

✍️ Curated by Thomas Anderson · Last updated: 2026-05-02
Information verified by the EncuentraIglesias editorial team