Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-02-20
The Famous Shrine of Copocabana.

Very early in the morning we were off
Copocabana, village famous through all
this region. and, indeed, through the en-
tire Roman Catholic world, as the site Of
q celebrated Indian shrine, Our Lady OF
Candelaria or the Virgin of COpocabana.
which was once, surprising even the Vir-
gin Of Guadalupe in Mexico. the richest
and most freuuented in the western
hemisphere. and is still visited annually
by many thousands of pilgrims. The vii
lage lies on a hillside rising gradually
from the waters edge and sprinkled with
huge boulders. Narrow streets bounded
by high walls of stone and mud climb the
hillside past adobe houses and inclosed
fields and pastures to the plaza and to
the cathedral which stands out cOnspicu-
ously in the view of the village from the
lake On the small stone landing pier
group of Indians collected to receive us,
some adding touches of color to the scene
ty brilliantly colored ponchos. The group
included grotesque and repulsive beg
gar-dwarf eager to be photogra phed--for
a consideration
The plaza is a large open space with
cathedral and connected buildings on one
side. and opposite the cathedral the two
story adobe public buildings including the
prison. On the other two sides are low
adobe residences and shops, with red
tiled roofs and fronts colored brown. yell
low. blue or green. tints of the latter pre-
dominating. In festival time III August
these houses and all the tamLOs or hotels
arc crowded with pilgrims and the plaza
itself Is animated and picturesque with
tilrongs OF gayly attired visitors, many in
ARRIVAL dress. Now tho only break in the
baroness OF the great plaza is found in
he open-air market upon 1t, with buck
sters mostly women. suuatted behind
small stocks Of frozen potatoes, coca
caves. popcorn and a variety of grains.
Many of the women were spinning sleeps
WOOL with wooden spindles. Some had
,abies on their backs fastened in shaWls
irebosos, with the baby's face turned in
ward as in Mexico and Japan. Among the
favored colors i'm dress black or dark
Drown, red, yellow and blue predominated.
Gray felt hats were favorites, both with
men and women. AS to the fashion in
shoes most OF the Indians were bare
footed.
TO one side and in front of the cathe-
dral and at right angles to ii is an arclled
open tower. under which three large
stone crosses stand in the open air, be-
fore which at festival time the Indians
are required or expected to pray before
entering the shrine. The crosses repre-
sent those upon which the Savior and the
two thieves were cruciied Latin in
scriptions on the pedestals of the crosses
give Christ's words uttered from the
cross. The central cross is larger than
the others and is colored green, tipped
with blue at the top of the upright and
The cathedral with its associated walls.
archways and other structures, is built
Of brick, covered with plaster. some Of
which is peeing off. The green. white.
yellow, reddish brown and blue tiles.
which ornament the cathedral roof and
the tops of the arches over entrances, are
missing i'm some places. But in spite Of
the evidences Of old age and neglect, the
cathedral as whole Is all imposing
structure.
Inside the cathedral service was i'll
progress at O'Clock in the morning on
this Wednesday in October. 1910 bare
footed Indians. some with modern striped
shawls ponchOs. constituted the
greater part Ut the congregation. The
interior Of the cathedral is rich i'll wood
carving. hammered silver 1T the altar
and dim old paintings, perhaps by old
masters.
The Indian Virgin of Copocabana.
After inspecting the church we climbed
to The tiny chapel under the roof, and
behind the main altar Of the cathedral, il