Algunas cosas de Cartago

 A few weeks ago (yep, late again I am) we took a short excursion to Cartago. We saw the basilica there and the ruins of a cathedral (okay...maybe it wasn't going to be a cathedral. I can't exactly remember.) that was never finished because of earthquakes and such. It is absolutely beautiful. If it were in the U.S. It would be a wedding venue. 

Visitors come to the basilica and buy or bring little models of their needs. For example, if they are praying for healing in their hand or arm they might bring something similar to the above items. Sometimes they offer other items that are special to them to "la Negrita"--their patron Saint. It is said that a little girl found a doll in the woods and took it home. Each time it would end up back in the same spot where she found it. The priest in the town decides that the Virgen wanted to remain in the place where the doll was found so they built the basilica in that area.  The holy water from the stream is in the last picture.