English Version - Click here!
Today I tell you about a special place within Cuban geography, which is also a place deeply rooted in the religious and popular culture of Cuba. This is the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Charity of Cobre in the town of the same name, a few kilometers from the City of Santiago de Cuba.
[Tomada desde mi móvil Redmi 9A/.Taken from my Redmi 9A cell phone.(Una vista frontal de la entrada principal del santuario/A front view of the main entrance to the sanctuary]
[//]:# (!pinmapple 20.05087 lat -75.94890 long Santuario de la Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre d3scr)
First, let's talk about the Sanctuary. It was founded in 1927 and in its main bedroom it houses the statue of the Virgin of Charity, which according to legend was found in Nipe Bay in 1612. The devotion to the Virgin has a long history of sanctification by different Popes. , among which the visit of John Paul II stands out, who named her the Patroness of Cuba in 1998. The building has the rank of Minor Basilica and is a religious pilgrimage center that receives hundreds of thousands of visitors a year. The town is accessed by a road in good condition from the City of Santiago de Cuba, or from Palma Soriano. Along the way it is possible to find the famous sunflowers that the Virgin likes, a number of sweets and souvenirs of all kinds that include miniatures of the Virgin, or samples of iron sulfide.
[Tomadas desde mi móvil Redmi 9A/.Taken from my Redmi 9A cell phone.(El interior del Santuario/The interior of the Sanctuary]
English Version - Click here!
Inside the Sanctuary, you can find all kinds of objects, which are payments for promises made to the Virgin. Some belonged to prominent figures in sports, art or simply ordinary people from all social strata who see in the Virgin the answer to their problems.
[Tomada desde mi móvil Redmi 9A/.Taken from my Redmi 9A cell phone.(Camisetas y pelotas de figuras ilustres de equipo Cuba de Pelota/T-shirts and balls of illustrious figures of the Cuba baseball team]
El área es colinosa y se pueden ver en el paisaje elevaciones que rodean al pueblo, que a su vez son fuentes de recursos minerales.
English Version - Click here!
Now let's talk about the geological aspect. El Cobre is not only famous for the Sanctuary of the Virgin, but for having one of the largest Copper mines in Central America. This was the first mine that the Spanish exploited in Cuba and was active for a few hundred years. Currently, the old copper mine is closed, and its main quarry is flooded. Until relatively recently, the Oro-Barite mine was exploited to extract gold.
The El Cobre Deposit was formed during the opening of the ocean floor millions of years ago, when the lavas came into contact with seawater, forming what is called a sedimentary volcanogenic deposit. Large concentrations of iron, copper, gold, silver and other valuable metals were thus formed.
The area is hilly and elevations surrounding the town can be seen in the landscape, which in turn are sources of mineral resources.
problems.
[Tomada desde mi móvil Redmi 9A/.Taken from my Redmi 9A cell phone.(Los alrededores del poblado El Cobre, vistas desde el Santuario/The surroundings of the El Cobre town, views from the Sanctuary]
Hasta entonces, te deseo la mejor de las suertes.
English Version - Click here!
Without a doubt, the town of El Cobre, its Sanctuary and its mining are part of the idiosyncrasy of the Cuban people. It is a place where geology and religion coexist in a mystical dance that makes this a very special place.
If you've come this far, I hope you liked it and I'll see you next time to continue visiting places of geological interest.
Until then, I wish you the best of luck.
