🌹 Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Mexico
About This Sacred Site
The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City is the most visited Catholic pilgrimage site in the world. It houses the tilma (cloak) of Juan Diego, on which the image of the Virgin Mary is miraculously imprinted. In 1531, a peasant named Juan Diego reported that the Virgin Mary appeared to him on Tepeyac Hill and left her image on his cactus-fiber cloak — an image that has defied scientific explanation for nearly 500 years.
Key Facts
- •Most visited Catholic shrine in the world with over 10 million visitors annually
- •The tilma of Juan Diego has survived nearly 500 years despite being made of fragile cactus fiber
- •The image on the tilma has features that cannot be explained by modern science
- •The original basilica was sinking, so the new basilica was built in 1976
- •December 12 (Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe) draws millions of pilgrims
Location
Coordinates: 19.4853, -99.1178
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