330px, Statue of the Virgin Mary on the top of Cerro San Cristóbal The Sanctuary of the Immaculate Conception on San Cristóbal Hill is one of the principal places of worship for the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, as well as being an icon of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

, Chile. It is notable in particular for a large statue of the

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...

, which is located at the summit of

San Cristóbal Hill Cerro San Cristóbal (Tupahue, San Cristóbal Hill) is a hill in northern Santiago, Chile. It rises 850 m AMSL and about 300 m above the rest of Santiago; the peak is the third highest point in the city, after Cerro Manquehue and Cerro Renca. Cer ...

, some 863 meters above sea level.

Sanctuary and statue

The statue of the Immaculate Conception measures 14 meters tall, and the pedestal on which it rests, 8.3 meters. It weighs 36,610 kilograms.Photo Virgin on San Cristóbal Hill
www.iglesia.cl. In Spanish. On the pedestal there is a small chapel in which

John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

prayed and blessed the city of Santiago on April 1, 1987. The statue is lit up at night by lights placed on its sides, allowing it to be viewed from all over Santiago both day and night. At the foot of the statue there is an amphitheater for holding masses or other religious ceremonies. Near the statue, there is also a small chapel for praying. The statue can be reached via the road joining the

Santiago Metropolitan Park The Santiago Metropolitan Park is an urban park located within the city of Santiago, capital of Chile. Consisting of the San Cristóbal, Chacarillas and Los Gemelos hills, and the areas of Tupahue, Lo Saldés, Pirámide and Bosque Santiago, the ...

, via the

Funicular de Santiago The Funicular de Santiago is a funicular railway on a slope of the San Cristóbal Hill, in the city of Santiago de Chile. It forms part of the tourist attractions of the Santiago Metropolitan Park. History The idea of a funicular originated w ...

or the

Santiago Cable Car The Santiago Cable Car ( es, Teleférico de Santiago) is an aerial tramway of a tourist nature, located at the Metropolitan Park of San Cristóbal Hill, in Santiago, Chile. History First era (1980-2009) The construction of the cable car began i ...

, which has its final station next to the sanctuary. The statue is currently in good condition, and was given a thorough clean and repaint in early 2012.

History

Before the arrival of the Spanish forces in Chile, the place where the shrine now stands was venerated by the indigenous population and known as ''Tupahue'', meaning “Place of God” in Mapundungun. Some time after the founding of Santiago, a 10-meter cross was placed on the hill’s summit, where it remained until the end of the 19th century. Popes

Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

and

Pius X Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of C ...

both proclaimed that during 1904, the 50th anniversary of the dogma of the

would be celebrated. Answering this call to commemoration, the Archbishop of Santiago, Monsignor Mariano Casanova, asked the priest José Alejo Infante to coordinate a meeting of clergymen and lay people. It was at this meeting that Infante proposed and received approval for the construction of a Marian shrine.Santuario Cerro San Cristóbal website
In Spanish. Retrieved November 16, 2012. The statue is believed to be a reproduction of the “Virgin of Rome” and was designed by Luigi Poletti and is a work by Giuseppe Obici. The French foundry Val D’Osne was commissioned to construct the statue by then Chilean ambassador to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, Enrique Salvador Sanfuentes. The statue cost 22,000 francs at the time. The land on which the sanctuary was built was donated by the communities of the Recoleta Dominica church and the Saint Teresa

Carmelites , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount Car ...

of Santiago. The first stone was placed on December 8, 1904, and the shrine was officially inaugurated on April 26, 1908. In 1987 it was visited by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

.
Funicular, Santiago Metropolitan Park. In Spanish.

References

External links

Sanctuary of the Immaculate Conception website
(in Spanish). {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanctuary on San Cristobal Hill Catholic Church in Chile

Sanctuary and statue

History

See also

References

External links