Las Lajas Sanctuary

The National Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Las Lajas (Spanish: Basílica Santuario Nacional de Nuestra Señora de las Lajas), commonly called Las Lajas Shrine (Santuario de Las Lajas), is a basilica church located in the southern Colombian Department of Nariño, in the municipality of Ipiales, and is built inside the canyon of the Guáitara River. The present church was built in a Gothic style between 1916 and 1949, taking up a total time frame of 33 years to build. The name Laja (slab) comes from the name of a type of flat sedimentary rock similar to shale and slate.