Grotto of Our Lady of Peace

About

Like its name suggests, the Grotto of Our Lady of Peace is a symbol of amity stemming from a time of unrest. According to tradition, the Virgin appeared to Father Jaramillo in a dream and asked him to create an image of her to ease the rising political pressures of a time when Ecuador was struggling to define its borders with its neighbors. A stone was brought from the Apaquí River and carved by Imbabura artist Daniel Reyes into a likeness of the Virgin Mary. Housed in a 150-meter-deep limestone cave, with a river running through it, and decorated with multi-colored stalactites, the chapel is the only one of its kind in the country, and perhaps the whole continent.