Virgin of Chiquinquirá

Since the wooden slab depicting the image of the Virgin Mary arrived to the shores of Maracaibo 298 years ago, the Marian faith has grown exponentially. It was first taken to a small sanctuary built to honor San Juan de Dios and later, under the rule of the governor Francisco de la Roche Ferrer, a bigger chapel was erected to venerate the newly found Virgin of Chiquinquirá. The wooden slab remained in there for the next generations until the final stage of the Basilica was completed in 1858.
The wooden slab is relatively small. The dimensions are: 26 centimeters wide by 25 centimeters long with 3 millimeters deep. If you look at it, you will find the image of the Virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus in her left arm. To her left, there is Saint Andrew holding an open book and to her right there is Saint Anthony holding a chastity lily in his right hand. The slab was restored and preserved, and 18-karat gold was engraved to magnify its beauty.
The crown weighs 10 kilograms and it was made of 18-karat gold, donated by all parishioners who had a strong devotion towards the Virgin. Its inner arch measures 27 centimeters by 44 centimeters and a number of precious stones were embedded. It is indeed one of the most highly prized relics in all of Zulia. By the time the crown was made it cost around 250 thousand Bolívars.
our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá or the Virgin of Chiquinquirá is a title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the northern Andean region of South America. She is the patron saint of Colombia, the Venezuelan state of Zulia, and the town of Caraz in Peru. In Colombia, her painted image rests in the Basílica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Chiquinquirá, where thousands of pilgrims arrive not only for the Feast Day on July 9, but also every Sunday, when they celebrate masses and processions. On July 3, 1986, Pope John Paul II visited the sanctuary and prayed for peace in Colombia at the feet of the Virgin Mary's image. The title given to the Virgin is from the city of Chiquinquirá, where the first of the Virgin's miraculous manifestations occurred, and where the original image from the sixteenth century is kept.