Las Lajas, Columbia

Where space creates “wow, how do they do it?” moments

Santuaria de las Lajas might seem miraculous because of the precarious way that it balances on the rocks of the river gorge, or for the way that its Gothic style seems to have been transplanted from medieval Europe to modern-day Columbia—but it's real. The basilica was built in the early 1900's on the site where, legend has it, another miracle occurred nearly 200 years earlier. The towering height, exacting symmetry, and sculptural detail in Las Lajas send a message to every far-flung visitor about the power of the divine, even in remote places.