Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana
The Basilica of Our Lady of the Candles of Copacabana is a 17th-century Spanish colonial shrine that houses the image of the Virgen de Copacabana. It is located in the town of Copacabana, Bolivia on the shores of Lake Titicaca near the Altiplano region. Our Lady of Copacabana is the patroness saint of Bolivia.
Pope Pius XII raised the shrine to the status of Minor Basilica via the Pontifical decree Bolivianæ Ditionis Intra on 2 July 1940. The decree was signed and notarized by Cardinal Luigi Maglione.
History
Around 1576, indigenous sculptor Francisco Tito Yupanqui carved an image of Nuestra Senora de Virgen de la Candelaria. It was brought to Copacabana, as the statue of the tutelar protectress of the community. Soon miracles were attributed to the intercession of the Virgen de Copacabana. An adobe shrine constructed about 1583. The shrine was constructed at the foot of a small, steep, hill in a location formerly known as the Temple of the Sun – an area sacred to the Inca – it remains as one of two principle sacred places to both the indigenous peoples and Catholics alike; the other location being the Virgin of Urkupiña near Cochabamba, Bolivia. In 1589, friars of the Order of Saint Augustine were entrusted with the management of the shrine, establishing a monastery and maintaining a detailed record of the Virgin's miracles.The Augustinians built their first chapel between the 1614 and 1618. The current building was built between 1669 and 1679 by the Spanish architect Francisco Jiménez de Siguenza replacing the former church. It was officially elevated to the rank of Basilica in 1940.