SOMEHOW THE LAST PART OF OUR POST DIDN'T PUBLISH!!

MAESTRO OBED

We continued our walk in search for the Basilica de la Soledad. It is the most important religious site in the entire state of Oaxaca and located right here in the city of Oaxaca. Here is some information I found in the Internet.

The Basilica de la Soledad in Oaxaca City is the most important religious site in the entire state of Oaxaca. Architecturally, it is notable for its 24-m (79-ft) high Baroque facade and its heavily gilded interior.


The basilica was built between 1682 and 1690 to house the holy image of the Virgin of Solitude (Soledad), Oaxaca's patron saint. The statue stands inside the church, decorated with 600 diamonds and topped with a 4-lb gold crown. Her vestments are encrusted with pearls.


In the 1980s robbers removed her jewel-studded crown; she now has a replica of the original and stands in a glass-covered shrine. Many locals come to pray before the image, as she is believed to have the power to heal and work miracles. A major festival on December 18 honors the Virgin, attracting the faithful from all over Oaxaca.


According to legend, the image of the Virgin was found in the pack of a mule that sat down on an outcropping of rock and refused to get up. When the image was discovered, the Virgin appeared, and a basilica was constructed to commemorate the event. The outcropping of rock is surrounded by a cage of iron bars immediately to your right along the wall as you enter the church.

The concave facade of the Basilica de la Soledad, projecting forward from the building, is unique in Mexico's religious architecture. The way the top is rounded and the tiers are divided suggests an imitation in stone of the traditional carved wooden retablos (folding altarpieces) common in Mexican churches.


Attached to the church is a former convent with a small religious museum in back. The museum is charming, and contains a curious blend of pieces; some museum-quality, others mere trinkets.


When visiting the Basílica, it is traditional to eat ice cream; there are vendors in the lower plaza in front of the church.

While we were at the church, we visited its small religious museum and had some traditional ice cream, more like iced milk, combined with a snow ice topping. We tried, “Leche Quemada con Tuna”. It was plain ice milk with snow ice flavored with the fruit of a cactus called “tuna”. The fruit is very red. It was refreshing.

This weekend, December 18th, is the big celebration. We are sure the city will be very busy. The church was already full of fresh flowers being delivered by a variety of florists and local people. A truly amazing sight.

We walked to the Zocalo and purchased a torta from a vendor under the bandstand. In a previous post we referred to it as the fountain…sorry for the mistake. We made sure we gave our business to the other vendor…we wanted to keep our promise. The vendor immediately recognized us and asked if we wanted the ham torta we had last week with the vendor next to him. It’s amazing he even remembered us with all of the people coming and going. Today we tried the “pierna”, “pork leg” torta. It was great.

Tonight’s dinner was leftovers…spaghetti, meat loaf, and beef vegetable soup. It was really good.